Drumchapel’s Glasgow Club Donald Dewar still closed after more than two years

The Glasgow Club Donald Dewar, on Garscadden Road, is still closed after shutting down in March 2020 due to pandemic restrictions.

The outdoor football pitches and changing rooms have since reopened, but residents are still unable to access the gym, spin studio and two fitness studios.

The Glasgow Club Donald Dewar has been closed since March 2020.

It comes after the Glasgow Times launched its Save Our Venues campaign, calling on Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life to reopen community facilities that are still closed after Covid lockdowns.

Now, a Drumchapel resident who did not want to be named, said she is having to make a seven-mile round trip to the Maryhill or Scotstoun Glasgow Clubs for an affordable gym.

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She said: “This is a deprived area and we should be doing things to help people’s mental and physical health.

“And yet, the only public gym that we’ve got has been closed for two and a half years. It’s ridiculous.

“It’s not ideal, especially because Donald Dewar is just walking distance.

“I am lucky, I drive. I’ve got a car, but obviously Drumchapel has about 10,000 people, so I am sure there’s a lot of other members who are not necessarily drivers or maybe it’s a bit more difficult for them to go elsewhere.”

The facility had been turned into a vaccination centre but the resident said it’s only being used one day a week.

“It’s just ridiculous, surely they can’t keep it shut just for using it one day a week, they should be moving it to a GP surgery or within a clinic or something,” she added.

The Glasgow Club Donald Dewar was used as a vaccination centre.

The woman also said rumours had started circulating on whether the venue would reopen at all since members had been given no updates.

She added: “To me, they've got to open it back up but given that they’ve not told us anything at all, it’s kind of worrying.”

In April this year, during the rollout of the Covid spring booster, the resident contacted MSP for Anniesland Bill Kidd, who referred the issue to the Scottish Government.

In an email seen by the Glasgow Times, health secretary Humza Yousaf said in response to the query: “I'm sorry to hear of your constituents’ concerns regarding the Donald Dewar Centre and Drumchapel Community Centre which is currently being used as a Covid-19 vaccination centre.

“NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have advised that whilst they continue to use part of the centre for vaccination the rest of the centre has reopened for leisure use.

“Their local authority partners are balancing the need for local access to vaccination as well as access to leisure and have opened nearby facilities.”

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Glasgow Life has now told the Glasgow Times the vaccination centre officially closed last week and it is assessing the facility for reopening.

A spokesperson said: “Glasgow Club Donald Dewar was used as a vaccination centre until just last week when all NHS equipment was removed.

“While the main building was being used by the NHS, the pitches were open to the public and we recently agreed a Licence to Occupy with Drumchapel United for the pitches only.

“Glasgow Life has so far reopened more than 100 venues which were forced to close due to the pandemic, including the vast majority of our Glasgow Club centres.

“Now that Donald Dewar is no longer being used as a vaccination centre, we will begin the process of assessing how and when the main building can reopen, depending on staff resource and budgets.”