6 GROUNDCOVER NEWS INSP SUMMIT Felicia Wilbert and Jacob Fallman at the awards ceremony September 3. BRIAN CONNOLLY To mark the opening of the 2026 International Network of Street Papers Summit at Civic House, Glasgow — a former printing press — poet and friend of INSP Brian Connolly penned this original poem. Come away in. A world crossed waters and arrived here with a wave Delegate report from Glasgow INSP Summit FELICIA WILBERT Groundcover vendor No. 234 bership The INSP is a global nonprofit membased organization in Glasgow, Scotland. CEO Mike Findlay and Sarah Britz, Chair of the INSP Board of Directors, worked together to create this elaborate biannual gathering. The conference unites and supports street papers addressing poverty and homelessness. The Glasgow Caledonian University, along with the Social Hub Hotel, hosted this special four-day event. GCU, located on Cowcaddens Road, catered a tasty lunch every day of the conference. The Social Hub is a classy hotel with a flair of chic modernization; their continental breakfast was a delicious all-you-can-eat buffet. Yes, the Scottish food is different. No, I did not try the haggis or black pudding! Monday, August 31, the first day of the activities, included a trip to the Shamanic Kinetic Museum. The shaman is a man with creativity and design. A short story was told during the presentation of each piece of art work. His artworks are made out of wood and steel that was discarded as trash. They are very interesting works of art that light up and have moving parts. That evening was our welcome event hosted at Glasgow’s Civic House. This magnificent piece of history started life as a Civic Press in the 1920s. It now hosts a dynamic range of activities, from co-working festivals to workshops. Tuesday, September 1, I participated on a panel titled "Opening up Journalism to Marginalized People." I answered three questions: 1. What training can you put in place to support lived experience voices to be heard through the street paper movement? You can help create a writing and storytelling workshop or a photography and video workshop. 2. How can you use special editions to do this? By giving a dedicated platform written and illustrated by the participants. 3. How can you remove barriers, giving over more space to lived experienced voices in the regular street paper? Add extra printing space ensuring a platform. After the conference that day we were free to sight-see; however, it was rainy, cool and dark. I chose to rest. Wednesday covered ways to keep the street papers alive with all the digital technology compeition. The solution I support is to inform and educate the next generation on the importance of a tangible document. Later that evening we met at the astonishing 300-year-old piping heritage museum, The National Piping Centre, for a formal dinner and whiskey tasting, accompanied by a live band, The Tenementals. The rich history of the museum was breathtaking and the band was astounding. Thursday, the last day of the conference, we learned ways to upcycle old street papers. Everyone was excited to learn how to create art from recycled papers; a process I hope we can implement here. The best was saved for last: the award ceremony. Showcased at the Social Hub, it was a true testament of the dedicated vendors and contributors whose work has not been unnoticed by the INSP. This ceremony was a great gesture of recognition. Yes, Groundcover was nominated for Best Vendor Support Program; however, we lost to a very worthy candidate, Apropos, from Salzburg, Austria. At the end of the week, the takeaway of the conference was an understanding that teamwork and perseverance can launch a street paper. However, only readers can circulation. keep it in along the Clyde. Stand here in a room that remembers. All pressed together in this dear green place. Walls once a press. Ink and iron and the clatter of the plate, the daily pressing of words to paper. So, we return to the press to speak about our papers, back to the pitch to speak about the pitch, the corner where a vendor holds a headline in hand. This is the core of it, the twin thing, the double meaning folded in fold. The paper as a story and the paper as a wage. An issue is a problem, and an issue is the lift out of it. A pitch is a patch of pavement, and a pitch is a soft plea. A sale is a sale, and a sale is being seen. Every soul on every sole of every worn-through shoe, every story of this city stacked with stories, every reader who stops, who reads, who takes the paper and hands back the human. That is the work. That is the whole of it. The press is under pressure, truth is taxed and trust runs thin. Yet here stands proof the printed word still pays its way, still puts the mighty on the spot, still puts a wage in working hands. Proof the press still finds a home for those who seek shelter. So come away in and we’ll send you home with a haste ye back. Read all about us. Courtesy of INSP.ngo OCTOBER 2, 2026 Word on the street voting is now open! Please vote for us. Our categories are... Best Podcast: GROUNDCOVER SPEAKS Best Nonproft: GROUNDCOVER NEWS NOMINATIONS OPEN! SEPT 1 THRU OCT 15 Log on & VOTE! ecurrent.com
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