We're rebuilding after Union Street fire space was home for 15 years

The city's Transcendental Meditation (TM) Centre was on the third floor of 111 Union Street before the March 8 blaze reduced the building to rubble.

Hosting their first event since the fire, TM teachers Angela Landers and Sarah Bence were emotional as they gathered their community at their one-off space in The Social Hub.

TM Centre started in a flat on Argyle Street in the 1970s, before moving to different locations, most recently on Union Street in 2011, where they remained until the fire earlier this month.

The non-profit organisation is part of a global network of TM hubs where they teach "a simple, natural meditation technique" developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Sarah and Angela run the TM Centre and say We're rebuilding after Union Street fire space was home for 15 years (Image: Newsquest)

Angela, who's been involved in the charity since 2000, said they'd just refurbished the Union Street space, she said: "We'd made our home out of it.

"There was that great atmosphere that had built up in the meditation room."

She joked that the location was "only ever meant to be a couple of years as a stop-gap, but turned into so much more."

Watching the fire unfold was a big loss, Angela said she couldn't believe that "everything just disappeared like that."

Sarah and Angela hosting the event in The Social Hub (Image: Newsquest)

Sarah has to remind herself that equipment and other things they lost in the fire "just isn't there anymore."

Speaking about the fire, she said: "I remember the video of the dome collapsing. The dome under which we used to have our dinner... It was like, wow, it’s actually gone."

The pair said they've been "buoyed" by the support from the community, other businesses and strangers.

Those attending the first session were excited to be in the same room again, but there was a deep sense of loss over the Union Street space.

Paula has been attending TM Centre sessions since 2015 (Image: Newsquest)

Paula has been going to TM since 2015, she said: "Losing that space was quite a wrenching experience, it was a real loss and a sense of being disconnected."

Craig told the Glasgow Times that the charity had "saved his life" at a time he was struggling with addiction and his mental health.

He said that he was "phenomenally grateful" to have the opportunity to support the place that had "given him his life back."

Craig says that TM has "saved his life" after discovering it in 2019 (Image: Newsquest)

Zeinab, an asylum seeker from Sudan, was referred to TM by the David Lynch Foundation and has been attending for about a year.

She was struck by the loss not just of the TM space, but also of a "safe space" in the city for her.

Zeinab said: "The first time I did TM was at that centre, and since I started practising, those were the moments where I could reach some peace within the chaos or to know how to manage myself within whatever was happening."

Zeinab was referred to TM Centre by the David Lynch Foundation around a year ago (Image: Newsquest)

Menesia was one of the newer TM attendees, but had built a deep connection with the Union Street base.

Speaking about the session at The Social Hub, she said: "It doesn't feel like home. We had a home, and it burnt down.

"It’s like we as a community are homeless."

Menesia started with TM Centre in December and said the techniques were "invaluable" (Image: Newsquest)

They hope to rebuild from the "ashes" of the fire and have a five-year plan to purpose-build a TM Centre, like the Peace Palace in Edinburgh. They're raising funds for that project, and you can read more about it HERE.

Sarah added: "We’ve lost the walls of the TM Centre, but actually it's more alive than ever in terms of the community around it."

Paula joked about a unique aspect of the old location next to Central Station: "It'll be hard to replicate the shudder of the floor like the old place!"