Glasgow City Council has been accused of "moral" and "bureaucratic" failure over delays to a memorial for victims of the Covid-19 pandemic which is sitting in storage at taxpayers expense.

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the nationwide Remembering Together initiative in March 2021, with projects in each of Scotland's 32 council areas given £120,000 to create a "unique" local memorial.

The national project concluded in September 2024, with memorials completed or being installed in every council area - except Glasgow.

Across Scotland memorials funded through Remembering Together ranged from music and events to benches and the creation of a special tartan in the Borders.

Govanhill Baths Community Trust, the community organisation leading Glasgow's project, says a sculpture co-created by artists and Glaswegians affected by Covid-19 is finished and ready to be installed in Queen's Park, in the city's Southside.

However, the council has yet to approve the installation, claiming that "valid" safety concerns about the memorial have not been "adequately addressed".

Govanhill Baths disputes this, and claims the council has shown little engagement with the project or guidance on what steps can be taken to ensure it is installed.

It says council employees have attended meetings about the project without being properly prepared and that goalposts for it to gain approval have been shifted at the eleventh hour. The sculpture remains in storage, which has cost the organisation over £1,800 in public money so far.

Instead of a public space for reflection and care, we are left with a sculpture in storage, accumulating monthly costs - because of systemic failures and a lack of accountability.

Fatima Uygun, Govanhill Baths Community Trust

The chief executive of Govanhill Baths Community Trust, Fatima Uygun, claimed trying to get clearance from the council had been "one of the most frustrating and disheartening experiences" the organisation had faced.

"We began this project with a deep commitment to honouring the lives lost, the communities most affected, and the collective trauma we've all carried," she said.

"The community showed up. The artists delivered. But instead of a public space for reflection and care, we are left with a sculpture in storage, accumulating monthly costs - because of systemic failures and a lack of accountability."

Uygun argued those most impacted by Covid-19 - including those "experiencing disabilities, bereaved families and frontline workers" - had been "sidelined" by a process that, for many of them, echoed the failures they experienced during the pandemic.

"We've submitted proposals, attended meetings, revised plans, and waited," Uygun continued. "This memorial was meant to offer dignity and space to grieve. The fact that it remains hidden from public view is more than a bureaucratic failure - it's a moral one."

The artwork, designed by Glaswegian artists Littlewhitehead, is around two metres tall and features concrete panels on a metal frame. Its design has yet to be unveiled to the public but the plan is to put it near the poetry garden in Queen's Park.

A council spokesperson said there was "a risk from children climbing and falling from the structure" and also from a "concrete panel falling from the steel structure that supports these panels".

They continued: "We have valid concerns about the safety of the proposed structure that have not been adequately addressed by the team from Govanhill Baths.

"Govanhill Baths undertook to provide us with information that would satisfy our safety concerns and so far they have not done so. As the landowner of Queen's Park, we have a legal responsibility to ensure our parks are safe for the public to use.

"Without further information from the project team that satisfies our safety concerns, the community trust does not have permission to install the structure in Queen's Park. We are happy to continue the dialogue with their project team and find a way for the pro...