Glaswegians tell us their hopes for the New Year

By Talking Heads on Jan 8, 09 01:02 PM in

Are the resolutions still intact? Have you begun exercising, started that healthier diet? Or not...

THE new year is a week old and many of you will already have broken your resolutions for 2009.

Vows to exercise regularly, eat and drink more healthily and attempt to get rid of annoying habits are the most common New Year's resolutions but they are the pledges most likely to fail even before the last turkey sandwich has been eaten.

So The Glaswegian took to the streets of Partick to find out about ordinary Glaswegians hopes and fears for the year ahead.

There was certainly plenty of cause to celebrate, commiserate and commemorate during 2008 but what will 2009, the Chinese year of the Ox, have in store for us all?

Indeed, we live in grim times with spiralling costs and mass redundancies but there is also plenty of reason to face 2009 full of optimism.

In the world of sport Scotland is making its presence felt with Andy Murray and Chris Hoy showing we can produce world beaters and our football team could clinch qualification to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa before this year is out.

There's a series of events throughout the year to mark the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns' birth. Glasgow itself will undergo great change with the regeneration of the East End ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth games really starting to get under way.

Pensioner Paul Mallinson from Whiteinch is looking for love in 2009. He said: "I know a lot of people are worried about the economy but it doesn't really bother me because I've always tried to live within my means."

Sharon McMillan, 40, a shop assistant from the Southside, has set herself the target of staying smoke free this year. She said: "My big hope is that I can manage to stop smoking and stick to it. Obviously I am hoping the economic situation improves because that must be a big fear for everyone at the moment."

Dave Talbot, 34, from San Diego, is living in Glasgow while he studies Scottish History and he just can't get enough of the city. He said: "My biggest ambition is that when I graduate this year I can find a job in Glasgow. I love Scotland and the city in particular and my hope for Glasgow in 2009 is that more of the beautiful, old buildings can be preserved and put to use."

Retired 62-year-old Ellen Reid, from Partick, has a cold feeling when she thinks ahead to what 2009 could bring, saying: "I am really worried about how much fuel bills could go up by. My gas and electricity bills are now well over s100 each and I find it really hard to afford prices like that."

Catherine McGoldrick, 66, lives in the north of the city and is crossing her fingers for improved public transport in her area. She said: "It feels like we are forgotten about up there sometimes because the bus service throughout the rest of Glasgow is great. But up at Milton it's poor and you can stand there for ages."

Any festive feelgood factor had long deserted 70-year-old pensioner Alastair McLean who had a blunt assessment of his hopes for 2009. He said: "I'll just be happy if I don't freeze to death because I am terrified what my fuel bills are going to be like in January."