PEOPLE Make Glasgow, right?

Well, now's the time to prove it. Now is really the time to prove it.

I remember quite clearly when Glasgow City Marketing Bureau decided to crowd source an idea for the next big slogan to advertise our city on the world stage.

Nothing like that had been done before on the same scale and bosses were excited to find out what the common themes would be when it came to those who live here and those who had visited describing Glasgow.

Would it be the leading attractions? Would it be the sporting opportunities? The proximity to the beautiful scenery of Loch Lomond even? Would it be our gig scene?

It was none of the above. It was barely even themes. What came back was one theme - singular.

And it was the people.

Every group asked said the thing that set Glasgow aside from any other place was it's friendly, warm, funny and open-hearted people.

That slogan is being tested now.

These are serious times.

Boris Johnson has said, starkly, that our loved ones will die before their time. The G7 group of world leaders released a statement yesterday with the words: "The Covid-19 pandemic is a human tragedy and a global health crisis."

The coronavirus pandemic is about to become very real, very quickly.

While the messages coming from Westminster are, at the moment, unclear and confusing, one thing is very plain - to slow down the spread of the virus and to protect our most vulnerable citizens, we must practice social distancing.

This means giving up our treats and our pleasures. Cinema trips will be off. Gigs cancelled. Theatre tickets will go unused. We shouldn't eat out in restaurants or visit cafes and pubs.

It's going to be hard but vital to get right.

For those of us with support networks, close family and good friends, it will be tough but doable.

For those in our communities who have no one, it will be devastating.

There was a line in a news report at the weekend that read: “[The government is] deeply worried that some older people will simply die at home from neglect, after they are quarantined.”

I could not read that without being reduced to tears.

But tears are no use - action is.

It's time for our famous city motto to really mean something. Those of us who are young, well and physically able need to step up to care for and protect the frail among us.

Already Glasgow is mobilising, and it is a bright spot in the gloom of this crisis.

The Southside Self-Isolation Support Group, which has sprung up on Facebook, has been swamped with members all keen to offer their help to elderly or vulnerable neighbours with shopping and medicine deliveries.

They will even make phone calls to keep people company while they are stuck at home.

Langside Cafe is offering to make and deliver soup to people stuck at home.

There are other people offering dog walking services.

People are setting up WhatApp groups to keep each other company. And I saw a postcard service where you can sign up an address and people will send you postcards to keep those in isolation entertained and connected.

I feel increasingly anxious keeping on top of the news cycle as headline after headline tells us of more deaths and stricter measures restricting our movements.

These acts of common humanity are as good for the mental health as they are for physical health and wellbeing.

We all have someone who we are particularly concerned about. These are anxious times. But what a difference it makes to think that each person might be supported by neighbours.

It's a weight off the mind.

It's also a weight off emergency and care services who will be stretched as this crisis deepens.

Even Glasgow City Council has said it is relying on good neighbours to look after each other.

Of course, this used to be a common occurrence. You knew everyone in your close, you knew who needed a wee extra hand and when. Kids all played together and childcare was a cooperative thing.

In a way, this mobilisation of community care is just a return to the days of our grandparents.

Plenty of neighbourhoods will already see people look out for one another. But people are busy and stressed and local relations become fractured.

It's time to repair fault lines and get to know each other again.

We don't know what's coming next, and that can be frightening, but one can make one thing certain - that everyone in this city will know that there's someone looking out for them, someone they can turn to if they need it.

We cannot let people suffer alone in their own homes through neglect on our watch.

It's time to really pull together.

People Make Glasgow, right?