A Tribute to Maureen Cope MBE following her Retirement

Maureen Cope – With Thanks 

Ardenglen Housing Association pays tribute to a long standing Board member who’s helped shape the area into the community it is today.

Next year Ardenglen Housing Association celebrates its 35th birthday, and Board member Maureen Cope who has been with it almost since the very beginning, has now decided to call it a day.

Maureen, who’s been a Castlemilk resident for more than 60 years, shared some of her memories about her time with the Association.

‘I was chair of Castle Brae Co-operative from 1989, a neighbouring housing association before it merged with Ardenglen in 1995, I then became chair of both and I’ve been here ever since, chair for 20 years and a board member for nearly 35. 

‘Looking back it was quite a feat taking on an association when the Council transferred over their existing housing stock to us. The problem was we didn’t have the staff in the early days to manage the refurbishments as well as we would like. We inherited a lot of houses that had been built in the 1950’s and were now showing their age,’ said Maureen.

Castlemilk was developed by the Glasgow Corporation as a peripheral housing scheme in the 1950s to accommodate 34,000 people from inner-city slum areas such as the Gorbals. The new residents were provided with open spaces, a clean environment and indoor toilets and bathrooms. 

The other areas identified for this were Pollok, Drumchapel and Easterhouse. These new schemes were collectively known along with Castlemilk as ‘the big four’.

In December 1952, Glasgow Corporation approved a sketch layout plan for the construction of a new township at Castlemilk with an estimated 8,300 houses.

After the Right To Buy Act in 1980, local authorities looked at transferring their remaining homes to housing associations. Maureen continued:

‘When we took over we had 70% voids. Most of the houses were in a terrible state so taking on the responsibility of improving what we had was quite daunting.

‘Castle Brae had 200 houses and when we merged with Ardenglen this number increased to around 1000.

‘We had seconded staff from the Council but no one really had the experience of setting up a housing association, the early days were really trial and error.

‘It was purely down to the will of local people’s involvement in the association that we succeeded and thrived.

‘We demolished a lot of the existing tenemental stock and replaced them with houses, that where the demand was, for your own front and back door.

‘We were innovative too in the area we were the first housing association in the country to offer shared ownership, where tenants could eventually buy their own home.

‘The biggest thing I’ve noticed in all the years I’ve been involved is the reduction in crime and I think that is directly related to the housing improvements we’ve achieved in the area. As housing has improved and the area has become a more mixed rental and owner occupier mix people take more of pride in their surroundings.

‘We’re much more than a housing provider though which has played a big part in improving the area, we have a youth complex that offers a range of opportunities and training and even organises trips abroad.

‘We set up a football team with the help of local born professionals Charlie Millar and Andy McLaren to tackle gang violence in the area and that has been really successful.  

‘One of the biggest challenges for us as a board is communications with tenants, they have to understand that every penny we spend either has to come from rents or be borrowed and repaid there, is no pot of money we tap into at will. Sometimes getting that message over is difficult.

‘I’ve lived in the area for 68 years and I’ve seen it change for the better. Better housing, better facilities, but there is still much to do. There is a dire need for a supermarket in the area it must be the largest community in the country without easy access to a supermarket.

‘Another challenge is transport, at the moment the bus service serving the area is not really fit for purpose which only adds to a sense of isolation. But we’re working on a whole new Castlemilk Locality Development Plan which will address all of these issues

‘In the beginning if you said your address was Castlemilk then that had a stigma, I’m not sure that is the case anymore. People are proud of the area now.

‘I’ve had a lot out of my experiences with Ardenglen because I always felt I was doing it to improve the community here. Working to give people a decent house to live in and ensure that their kids were brought up in a decent environment, that’s always been my motivation.’

All at Ardenglen Housing Association would like to thank Maureen for her service and wish her well for the future.