A dispute over insurance requirements has left a Tai Chi group of 30 older adults facing exclusion from a Glasgow community garden after more than a decade of weekly sessions at the site, according to a report by The Telegraph.
The disagreement centres on The Hidden Gardens in Glasgow’s Southside, where pensioners have gathered once a week for an hour-long early-morning Tai Chi session for more than 10 years. Group members say a change in management brought new requirements, including insurance cover, that now prevent them from continuing under their previous arrangement.
According to The Sunday Post report, many participants are bereaved or disabled and regard the weekly gathering as an important source of social interaction.
The Hidden Gardens Trust said organised activities at the venue must meet booking requirements, including holding appropriate insurance cover.
Jon Molyneux, chairman of The Hidden Gardens Trust and a Green Party councillor on Glasgow City Council, said the Tai Chi sessions had previously operated as part of a funded programme that ended in 2024.
“Organised Tai Chi sessions were previously delivered as part of a funded programme which ended in 2024,” said Molyneux. “We have since engaged with members of that group in an attempt to ensure that its activity could continue.
“Anyone looking to hold an organised event in the Gardens needs to complete a booking form and satisfy conditions of booking, which include having appropriate insurance,” he said. “As yet, members of the former Tai Chi group have not been able to satisfy our conditions of booking.”
“We remain in dialogue with members of the group and have offered to support them,” Molyneux added.
The trust’s position was outlined in a December letter from chief executive Mahri Reilly, which cited “health and safety, and insurance reasons” for ending the group’s use of the space.
Reilly wrote: “The group will not be permitted to use the space and will not be connected to or supported by the organisation in any way including the use of facilities, resources or staff time.
“The Tai Chi group has not been a member of our formal programme for over 12 months and has been operating independently with support from us in kind since that time.
“However, the group does not have a trained facilitator in place, and we are no longer able to support or accommodate its continuation”.
Supporters of the Tai Chi sessions say the gatherings provide social contact for older residents who might otherwise become isolated.
Anne Murray, a retired judge and member of the group, said the decision had upset several participants.
“This close-knit Tai Chi group has offered a lifeline to so many people on their own. But now we have been told we are no longer welcome. It’s a shocking way to treat elderly people,” said Murray.
“Several of our members have been in tears because these get-togethers were the highlight of their week,” she added. “The Hidden Gardens is supposed to be a place of peace and harmony, but now we feel we are stuck in all-out war.”
Around 30 people belong to the group, although Murray said roughly half typically attend the weekly sessions. She also questioned the need for restrictions given the early-morning timing of the gatherings and said the trust had invited members to join another organised movement group using the gardens at the same time.
An online petition calling for the decision to be reversed has attracted 485 signatures.
Another member, Siobhan McFadyen, said the group had used the gardens for more than a decade without issues.
“We’ve used the Hidden Gardens for over a decade without any issues. However, over the past year, things changed and it became clear we were no longer welcome,” said McFadyen.
McFadyen described the sessions as a way for participants to remain connected and active.
The dispute has also involved differing accounts regarding interactions between group members and garden staff.
Reilly alleged that staff had been spoken to disrespectfully by members of the Tai Chi group, according to reports. Group members reject that claim.
“Nobody has been disrespectful to any staff,” McFadyen said. “The former management team at the Hidden Gardens had no issue with us, but Ms Reilly is now threatening to lock the gates on us.”
Responding to criticism, Reilly said: “I deny the false and damaging allegations being made against me by members of the former Tai Chi group.”
“At all times I have sought to act professionally, responsibly, and in the best interests of The Hidden Gardens community as a whole. I remain committed to constructive dialogue and respectful engagement with all groups connected to the space.”
The Hidden Gardens, located between Pollokshields and Govanhill, hosts dozens of events each week. The organisation describes the site as a place dedicated to community wellbeing, inclusion and environmental regeneration.
The trust and members of the Tai Chi group say discussions remain ongoing, though access to the space remains contingent on meeting the venue’s booking conditions, including insurance requirements.
