Tuesday May 5th 2026
Woodside Hall
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Drew Sandelands
A new lease has been agreed for Woodside Hall, with a charity taking on the property in a long-term deal.
Community Central Hall (CCH), which already ran the council-owned venue under a licence to occupy, will now rent the Glenfarg Street premises for 25 years.
Councillors signed off the plan, which will see the charity pay £750 per year, at a meeting last week.
Bailie Seonad Hoy, whose Hillhead ward includes the building, said she is “absolutely delighted” to see the lease progress.
“Woodside Halls is a great asset for the community and Community Central Hall has worked really hard to get it to this point,” she added.
Woodside Hall closed in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown and didn’t reopen until October 2023 when CCH received the licence to occupy, allowing community groups to return.
It has “grown attendance significantly”, a council report stated, 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,” the report added.
“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.”
By January this year, Woodside Hall was hosting 85 hours of activity per week, covering music, theatre, dance, cultural activities and recreational use.
The building had been leased to Glasgow Life, the council’s arms-length culture and leisure organisation, until the end of March 2032. Under the new deal, a sub-lease will be agreed until that date as well as a lease for the remainder of the 25-year term.
The deal has been taken forward under the People Make Glasgow Communities programme, which allows charities and community organisations to manage council venues.
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 stated.
It added: “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.”
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