Values

Our values

Our values guide our decision making and how we work.

We welcome all

We hold out a welcome to all, especially those on the margins and the stranger. Our welcome is founded in acceptance and compassion. Our welcome is created by non-judgemental spaces where people feel they belong. We take care to make sure that everyone feels welcome and safe.

We are authentic

We are who we are. We are true to ourselves. We walk our talk. We practice open and honest forms of communication. We work in materials that have integrity. We make things that are true to the materials they are made from.

We are together

We need one another. We need to be needed. We are support to one another. Mutual help and kindness enable rather than degrade. We find strength and meaning in the collective. We work to share loads.

We are democratic

We love exploring the many different forms democracy can take. We treat everyone equally. This includes how we make decisions together that draw on the collective wisdom, how we recognise and work with power structures and how we think as a collective.

We have respect

Respect runs through all we do; respect for self and others, respect for tools and materials, respect for spaces and boundaries, respect for difference and other ideas, respect for place and culture.

We take responsibility

“Freedom comes with responsibility”*. Freeing ourselves from dependency in all its forms means we reclaim the right to be responsible for ourselves and our learning, our safety and wellbeing and that of others. We are all invited to take responsibility for bringing GalGael’s vision and values to life.

We are adventurous

We explore the world around us through adventure. This creates chances for learning about ourselves as well as our surroundings. We are curious, constantly learning and growing.

We are practical

We are hands-on. We make things. We wrestle ideas into reality through practical projects.

We are dreamers

We are not afraid to dream big. We hold fast. We draw on our cultural stories, symbols and totems.

Latest

Referring Someone

More information for referral agencies supporting someone to access what GalGael offers.
Making Just Futures

Making Just Futures is a big new piece of work for GalGael. Over two years, Making Just Futures will empower communities to imagine, determine and ultimately make just futures that meet their needs for living well and sustainably in an increasingly uncertain world.
GALGAEL TEMPORARILY CLOSED

WE'LL BE CLOSED FOR THE NEXT WEE WHILE... Glasgow City Council has declared the derelict building next door unsafe and have suspended access to the workshop. We'll let you know as soon as we get an update but for the time being we need to suspend much of our workshop activity - including Practical Woodwork and Thursday evenings 🥲
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.

Our Vision & Purpose

We stand against scarcity, loneliness and violence. We stand for compassion, justice and humanity.
Our working principles

Our working principles guide how we work together. They are our commitment to one another.

Boat building

GalGael works together on demanding common tasks that build community and demonstrate ways of living with more humanity. Working together on boats of all shapes and sizes is one of the ways in which we do just this.
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.
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.
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.
Open Workshop Nights

We have a workshop with tools and benches so every Thursday we open that up to the wider community. Thursdays are open format - they very much depend on who shows up and what they bring. But we can promise workshop space, a basic meal and some banter.
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.
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.
Colin's passion shared in BBC Alba documentary

BBC Alba documentary Birdman of Pollok, Curaidh na Coille tells the story of Colin Macleod our founder - a power story for our times. "An inspiring insight into a quest for justice, equity & sustainability of people and place" Broadcasting on 30 December