Activists leave Baile Hoose squat in Glasgow's South Side

For more than four weeks, campaigners have been living in the former Hamish Allen Centre in Tradeston as a reaction against "the lack of accessible and emergency accommodation in Glasgow”.

But yesterday the occupation came to an end after Glasgow City Council's successful legal challenge to have the group evicted.

Nicknamed Baile Hoose, the property has housed and fed hundreds of people during COP26 and beyond thanks to donations from the local community.

Yesterday afternoon, as council officers waited out on the street, the squat was packed up as campaigners moved on.

The group has been donated free office space nearby and plans now to create a strategy to compel the council to bring the building back into use for community groups.   

Luca, one of the activists who has made the Centre Street building a temporary home, said: "Today is very much not the end. 

"It's the beginning of the second phased, the 'What could be done?' phase. 

"We've demonstrated that this building can be used and now we have to put forward a strong case to the council."

As activists moved food, bedding and belongings out of the building, local residents came to show solidarity at the gates while passing motorists honked their horns in support.

Another Baile Hoose resident, Ross, came to Glasgow to volunteer during the climate conference but ended up sofa surfing due to the lack of affordable accommodation in the city.

The 24-year-old said: "For my generation the climate crisis has always been there and to me it's very clearly a political crisis and not a technological one.

"Staying here I've learned a lot and that was what I wanted to get out of it. 

"There was such an intersection of different people, queer and transgender community from Glasgow, activists who have come up, people off the street who needed a place to stay. 

"A very different mix of people but all with that same purpose that unites us, and that was amazing."

Baile Hoose activists said the community response during COP26 was overwhelming.

Fox has been part of the campaign from the beginning, saying the plan to occupy the building was "cooked up over Zoom" by a group of friends with a need to act.

They said: "We were all a bit speechless that the building would be in such good condition. 

"We thought, how on earth is this sitting empty. It was dirty, there were leaks, we had to run all the pipes and reconnect things, but really it was in good condition."

Glasgow City Council said it had safety concerns including fire issues and asbestos.

A council spokesperson said: “We have been engaging with the occupants over recent days to ensure that anyone that requires support is able to access it - and believe that the decision to vacate the building voluntarily was in the in the best interests of all concerned.”

But Fox said: "People turned up every single day with things from doughnuts to socks to paint for banners, to just checking we had enough teabags. 

"We are traveller folk, folk of no fixed abode, squatters from all different places, and so these issues are really close to our heart.

"We don't see why a building owned by the public shouldn't be used to help the public so we took it into our own hands."

As word of mouth spread during the four weeks, increasing numbers of people turned up at the centre looking for shelter. 

Luca added: "It's absolutely appalling that publicly owned buildings are left to decay while people sleep on the street. 

"There was a guy who was sleeping in a bus stop who came here a few days ago.

"I have been homeless several times and when you are in a city and you are looking for somewhere to go...

"People would just turn up in the middle of the night. They would turn up at 3am with a rucksack and just say 'I hear you have food'."

Activist Philip McMaster, who travelled from Germany to COP26, campaigns under the guise of Sustaina Claus and has attended every COP as a delegate since COP21 in France.

He came to live in Baile Hoose during the climate conference and praised the work of the activists in the squat.

Philip described Glasgow's climate summit as "the most blatantly commercial" he had attended and that the UK government's actions had "not reflected well on Glasgow".  

He added: "This place, Baile Hoose, was a godsend to the people who were further excluded because of the commercial trade show nature of the COP.  

"This was the people responding to the needs of people from Peru to Africa who were expected to pay 10 times the going rate for accommodation, so a place like this is saving the face of Glasgow.

"They acted from a place of love and care that everyone had shelter and everybody's belly was full." 

Scottish property law does not allow for squatting and last week a sheriff granted an eviction order against the group.

Luca added: "It's absolutely appalling that publicly owned buildings are left to decay while people sleep on the street. 

"There was a guy who was sleeping in a bus stop who came here a few days ago."

Despite the positive plans for the future of the Baile Hoose campaign, Luca said they are extremely sad to be leaving and returning home.

They added: "It's really been underestimated how life-changing it can be to live in this way."