Renfrewshire Council -Supporting New Scots in Renfrewshire

Involvement of New Scots in project

New Scots were integral to the design and delivery of the project, from choosing the weekly activities and discussion themes to helping plan and prepare the lunches, the learners were at the heart of shaping their groups. Two participants even joined our services as volunteers.

Challenges encountered

We met with several issues and challenges but by holding the needs and wellbeing of the learners at the heart of the project, these were managed with creativity and a flexible approach.

Navigating the multiple languages at every sessions was a steep learning curve at the beginning as most of the participants had at best a very basic grasp of English. Everyone worked together to overcome this using technology (especially Google Translate), pictures, mime and gesture.

We were also able to occasionally bring in some additional staff with Ukrainian and Arabic language skills to help with translation. Having food as the focus of the sessions meant staff had to source suitable cooking equipment cutlery and crockery, organise food shopping and delivery, prepare ingredients in advance and be mindful of cultural and religious dietary requirements.

The constant movement of the asylum-seeking population meant numbers fluctuated from week to week making planning difficult for our Erskine group.

Staff based their planning on having higher numbers and ensured that any excess food was distributed amongst the group at the end of the session to be taken back to the hotels.

Sadly, there were a small number of people outside one of the hotels protesting against asylum seekers being housed in the area. Staff were careful to create a warm and safe space within the community centre and have handled queries from the general public with discretion.

The groups were promoted solely through the relevant housing association and Renfrewshire Council’s resettlement team and with no external outreach.

The positive aspects of taking on a new approach (innovative)/How the project has expanded on existing examples of good practice (good practice)

Overall, our groups were well attended and everyone taking part, both learners and staff, felt that they were a valuable learning experience and more importantly they were a safe and welcoming space in the week where everyone could relax, connect with others, share experiences and laugh.

• Changing the focus of the groups from travel to food proved very successful in several ways. It highlighted the effectiveness of sharing food in bringing people together. The learners quickly relaxed and chatted more as the focus was on the food rather than on them. It provided the opportunities to talk about their home countries, the foods they enjoyed and to explore the similarities in dishes and mealtime customs around the world   When the meal was finished everyone worked together quickly to clear the table and wash up, which accelerated the cohesiveness of the group.

• Two of our ESOL learners were particularly involved in establishing the group in Erskine, encouraging people to come each week and helping everyone to feel welcome and included. They were extremely supportive of staff and have now joined our team as volunteers.

• Feedback from the project has shown that learners would like to continue with the groups and we are planning to run more sessions between January and March 2024. We will not be able to offer lunches, but we will be able to introduce a variety of activities that will support people’s language skills as well as building positive networks of support.