Friday April 24th 2026
Woodside Hall
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Drew Sandelands
Glasgow City Council is planning to lease Woodside Hall to a charity for 25 years.
Community Central Hall (CCH), which currently runs the venue under a licence to occupy, is set to agree a long-term deal to manage the Glenfarg Street premises.
Councillors will be asked to approve the lease — at £750 per year — when they meet on Thursday.
Woodside Hall closed in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown and didn’t reopen until October 2023 when CCH received a licence to occupy, allowing community groups to return.
A council report states the charity delivers a “broad and diverse programme of lets and events, catering to a wide range of community and cultural interests”.
It adds, by January this year, Woodside Hall was hosting 85 hours of activity per week, covering music, theatre, dance, cultural activities and recreational use.
The proposed lease has been taken forward under the People Make Glasgow Communities programme, which allows charities and community organisations to manage council venues.
Currently, the building is leased to Glasgow Life, the council’s arms-length culture and leisure organisation, until the end of March 2032. Under the deal, a sub-lease would be agreed until that date and a lease for the remainder of the 25-year term.
CCH was set up in 1976 after a community campaign to secure the use of the Methodist Central Hall. In 1977, Strathclyde Regional Council bought that building for community use and handed over the management to CCH, the council report states.
It adds: “Over the past 40 years CCH has evolved from providing community space for local organisations to providing a range of diverse vital community services.
“This includes pre-school nursery provision; after and out of school care; youth work; home care for older people; café and catering.”
At Woodside Hall, CCH has “grown attendance significantly”, the report states, with over 4,000 attendees in January compared to under 3,000 across the entire October to December 2023 opening period.
“This growth reflects CCH’s broader approach of combining community access with commercially viable programming, ensuring Woodside Hall remains a busy, financially sustainable, and culturally rich venue for Glasgow’s communities,” officials report.
“The granting of a long lease of Woodside Hall to CCH will help to ensure that the community continues to benefit from the critical facilities and services.”
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