A Message from our Chief Executive – Glasgow Life’s Annual Review 2023/24

As one of Scotland’s largest charities, Glasgow Life has a direct and positive impact on the people who live in and visit our city.

Today (Monday 30 September) we have published our Annual Review for 2023/24, which demonstrates just how important our venues, programmes, events, festivals and experiences continue to be to our diverse audiences and communities.

It showcases some of the incredible projects and activities we delivered across Glasgow Life over the past operational year. And it fundamentally reflects our charitable vision and purpose – that culture and sport have the power to transform people’s lives, helping to build happier, healthier, more prosperous and more productive communities.  

You can read our latest Annual Review in full on our website here: www.glasgowlife.org.uk/about-us/annual-review.

However, I would like to share some highlights that show the breadth and importance of Glasgow Life’s social and economic contribution to the city.

Visits to our libraries and museums grew to around 4 million each, while our Glasgow Club network of sport and leisure facilities recorded 4.7 million attendances, an increase of 18% on the previous year.

Almost 1 million attendances were recorded at events and festivals that we deliver or support; from the Merchant City Festival and the Great Scottish Run, to the World Irish Dancing Championships and the World Pipe Band Championships. The success of the World Athletics Indoor Championships at the Emirates Arena in February, which brought athletes from more than 130 countries to Glasgow, reinforced our international reputation as a trusted and innovative partner for major global events.

There were nearly 800,000 visits to our community facilities. This included more than 34,000 attendances to our youth programmes and nearly 16,000 attendances to our adult learning programmes, including literacy and numeracy classes, and mental health support. Our Family Learning team worked directly with 4,000 families.

Across our arts and music programming we sold 450,000 tickets, reflecting a record year for our box office, and we celebrated the 15^th anniversary of Glasgow being named the UK’s first UNESCO City of Music.

And such is the appeal of our cultural, sporting and events offer that we helped to attract more local, national and overseas visitors, significantly growing the city’s tourism economy and supporting the creation of more than 8,000 new jobs in the city.

Visitor volume and value in 2023 almost doubled compared to the previous year, with nearly four million tourists staying overnight in Glasgow last year spending £2.35 billion. The total number of people visiting Glasgow in 2023, which includes day visitors, increased by more than a quarter to nearly 26 million. Those are really positive figures and they reflect the important correlation between culture, events and tourism, which go hand in hand.

At the same time, our Convention Bureau was named the UK’s best for a record 17^th year, with the team helping to deliver more than 370 conferences which boosted the city’s economy by more than £145 million.

Glasgow Life couldn’t achieve the scale of what it does without strong partnerships and collaborations. Everything we do builds networks and relationships with people and with organisations that share our ambitions for the city.

And all of this is made possible through your passion and commitment as well as the support of our dedicated volunteers, Glasgow City Council and the generosity of our funders and donors.

Over the past year we have made great strides in helping more people to lead richer, healthier and happier lives, and positioning Glasgow Life as a force for good. Going forward we will continue to focus on the power of culture and sport to deliver a fair and inclusive future for communities across Glasgow and ensure that our work remains integral to the city’s mental, physical and economic wellbeing.

I would be delighted if you would share our latest Annual Review with colleagues and friends to show them the difference Glasgow Life makes.

Thank you for all that you do for our charity and for Glasgow.

Susan

Susan Deighan

Chief Executive