Heard at Holyrood: The High Backs in the Scottish Parliament

In 2024, the High Backs was named in the Scottish Parliament. Our MSP Clare Haughey submitted a parliamentary motion recognising the work happening in Burnhill - the transformation of the space, the groups and activities, and the community effort that made it all possible. Lizzy McDonald, who founded the High Backs, was named in the motion, alongside a description of what has been built here as a valued community resource.

Clare has been a visible supporter of the High Backs for a while. She has visited the site and has been known to pop up in the comments on our Facebook page. Having that kind of local recognition matters - it means the people making decisions about this area understand what is here and what it means to the community.

The motion itself focused on the men’s group - Burnhill MENding Minds - and the funding secured through South Lanarkshire Council’s Participatory Budgeting scheme to build a new space for it at the High Backs. But it also spoke about the wider story of the site -

how a patch of unused ground in Burnhill became what it is today.

For us, being recognised at that level was not something we had set out to achieve. It was the result of a lot of people showing up, over a long time, and doing something good with the space they had.

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