Who we are
Meet the team
Governance team

Gerry McCartney

Gerry McCartney graduated from medicine at the University of Glasgow and did his GP vocational training in Paisley. Whilst working as a junior doctor he completed an honours degree in Economics and Development at the University of London. After this he entered the Public health training scheme, based initially at NHS Argyll and Clyde and then at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. In 2010 he took up post as Head of the Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO) at NHS Health Scotland and then Public Health Scotland. This role involved leading a programmes of research on: the higher mortality in Scotland and Glasgow compared to similarly socioeconomically deprived populations; the causes and solutions to health inequalities; the economic determinants of population health; and the causes of the stalled trends in life expectancy across many high-income countries.

In September 2021 he was appointed as Professor of Wellbeing Economy at the University of Glasgow. He is currently developing a programme of research and teaching on how to redesign economies to better serve ecological, social and health outcomes. He is a honorary Consultant in Public Health at Public Health Scotland and NHS Grampian, and continues to work on the causes of mortality and health inequality trends.

Latest

Referrals
Origin Story - The GalGael Garden and Ibrox Commons

Our garden is a hive of activity. This blog, previously the garden webpage, explains a bit more about the where, why and how our 'Unexpected Garden' came into existence.
Common Ground visit to GalGael - sharing our community-first practice

Our visit to GalGael has been a timely and reinvigorating reminder of that truth and an opportunity to remember why we became community workers in the first place. Giving us a renewed sense of mission and clarity on the importance of community-led approaches in what feels for many of us the most challenging social, economic and political times we have lived and work through.
Gerry McCartney

Timber and firewood

We produce a number of Scottish hardwoods - often by working with partners within Historic Environment Scotland and Glasgow City Council to bring locally produced timber for sale to the public and for use in our products.
Why we need volunteers

GalGael offers activities that help people reclaim skills, agency and sense of worth. Without our crew of dedicated volunteers, these activities wouldn't happen nor would the many other adventures we have.
Making Just Futures

Making Just Futures is a community where we can build, make, grow, knit, cook, talk and be together.
How to participate

There are many ways to get involved in our work. Find out how to become part of what we're doing, visit us or stay connected.
Community Meals

We have two community meals on each week - lunch on a Wednesday from 12:30pm, and an evening meal on Thursdays from around 6pm.
Where we are

This is where you'll find us. We work and gather around tables and workbenches, at events, at cultural sites and in the great outdoors.
Our story

Our story is crafted by many people. It starts in one of the most deprived areas of Glasgow, where the GalGael grew from an environmental campaign. We created GalGael as a vehicle to take forward what we’d learned and to move from being about what we didn’t want to what we did want.
About our social enterprise

Our range of products and services - activities that generate meaning and income to help us become self-sustaining.
GalGael Next?

Big changes at GalGael
A new state

Govan Free State: living in the early days of a better nation. So COP26 is coming to town, about the same time as GalGael enter our 25th year. And so we thought what more appropriate way to mark all this than to declare a new free state - returning to our roots in Pollok Free State - an anti motorway camp. A playful, creative exploration of power and legitimacy in the face of climate emergency. An act of solidarity with those communities struggling for recognition of their territories.