What have been the main hurdles thus far and what do you see as the main challenges going forward?
Space. I remember in January/February time in 2016 looking around and thinking ‘wow we’ve snowballed’ and then six months later we thought ‘wow, now that really was a snowball’.
Time as well. There is always 101 things we would like to, or are trying to do. It’s often very difficult not to get caught up in all these things and get pulled in too many directions.
We are lucky that the community is very used to having a diverse population and we have been welcoming refugees for about 15 – 20 years in Glasgow, so the council and local authority have been very receptive to what we are doing. I’m involved in a wider Scottish group called ‘Refugees Welcome’ and it’s really interesting looking at the different community groups and how they work with their local authorities. It can be very different across Scotland, mostly based on fear. If a local authority hasn’t worked in this area before they are very cautious about who they open up to and engage with, quite rightly, because on their head be it! So it’s interesting hearing those other perspectives.
I think Glasgow is recognised as a bit of a model in terms of how our local authority engages because we have welcomed the highest number of people through the VPR [Vulnerable Persons Resettlement] programme UK wide.
It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest because at Glasgow’s City Council they are a phenomenal bunch of people. They are not just doing a job, they really care and really go above and beyond. They use a model where there has to be flexibility and fluidity because every single person, let alone family, is in an entirely different situation meaning you’ve got to be completely flexible with how you work with and react to them. We are lucky that they see us as plugging a gap that they couldn’t previously fill and they are also very open to our suggestions.
I recently met with another council and they were saying the frustrations of the community groups is that nobody is willing to set one up, everybody wants to be directed and the council don’t have time to do that. That side of it never even crossed my mind when we were setting up. The letters and welcome packs were all about making people feel welcome but actually it’s given the existing community a way to respond to the crisis, and that is so incredibly important, and that is what other areas don’t have and end up going round and round in circles with.
Probably one of the biggest hurdles I have had to deal with is recognising what we have achieved, rather than looking at all of the things we’d like to achieve because you will never ever get to that point. Every now and again I’ll do a facebook post breaking down what we have done during the week and it makes you realise just how much there is.