Scottish Refugee Council’s Annual General Meeting focused on how we can “futureproof” ourselves, navigating complex asylum policy and an increasingly challenging funding landscape to keep supporting refugees across Scotland.
Board chair Rona Alexander reflected on how Scottish Refugee Council had gone from being a Glasgow-based charity to establishing a “national service”.
CEO Sabir Zazai told members that we must “position [ourselves] to work in challenging contexts”, adding: “Our world is changing and so must we and the way we work.”
Celebrating our wins
Last year Scottish Refugee Council helped 7800 people from 98 countries to rebuild their lives in Scotland. Recognising the growing need to support refugee communities outside of major cities, we helped people in 30 out of 32 council areas.
North East Scotland Regional Integration Coordinator Marwa Bushsaq discussed the challenges of establishing support services outside of Glasgow over the last few years, saying: “There was a lack of knowledge – not many organisations had supported asylum seekers outside of Glasgow before.”
Our helpline answered more than 11,000 calls looking for information and advice. Helpline adviser Idris Akormadu explained that the helpline is often “the first line of contact” for Scottish Refugee Council clients, fielding requests for emergency and non-emergency support.
We also helped 414 people facing homelessness and destitution in Scotland. Our Guardianship Scotland service, run in partnership with Aberlour, helped support 945 unaccompanied children.
Refugee Integration Advisor Emma Spence said: “Being a caseworker, you have that privilege of seeing the amazing steps that people take in their lives. As an adviser, you are working to eventually become irrelevant to people.”
Looking back over the past year, Sabir reflected on the creative efforts of our fundraising team, whose initiatives have spanned from comedy nights to Kiltwalks to ceilidhs. The most creative? A zip slide across the River Clyde, which Sabir joked that he “avoided at all costs”.
He talked about the importance of community fundraising, including the “sweet” efforts of St Mary’s Primary School in Cumbernauld, where P6 and P7 pupils have been using a social enterprise project to sell hot chocolate and cookies across the school to raise money for us.
Schools play a big part in creating more welcoming and inclusive communities. Grateful to the amazing pupils @StMarysSeafar for their creative fundraising. Other schools still have a chance to join us on our journey of #SRC40for40 to celebrate 40 years of warm Scottish welcome. https://t.co/jVVr9xGO2i
— Sabir Zazai 🧡 (@sabir_zazai) October 17, 2024
Sabir also highlighted the recent success of Fatou Cham Gitteh, a 62-year-old refugee in Glasgow and a graduate of our New Scot Leadership Programme. A long-time volunteer with Scottish Refugee Council, Fatou was recently awarded a prestigious scholarship at the University of Glasgow where she is now studying community development.
Overcoming challenges
Reflecting on an “incredible and challenging year”, Sabir told members how “draconian” asylum policy from the previous UK government sought to end the right to seek asylum in the UK. He admitted that the challenges brought by the Illegal Migration Act and the Rwanda scheme had “stretched [our] capacity and resources”.
While both of those schemes have been scrapped, Sabir said that Scottish Refugee Council remains hopeful of working productively with the new UK Government and continuing to work with the Scottish Government on initiatives like the New Scots Integration Strategy.
He added: “Refugee protection is not about party politics, it is about basic human decency — no matter who is in power. We will continue to challenge both governments and local authorities if they fail to treat people seeking sanctuary properly.”
While a financial update showed that 96% of our expenditure is still being focused on frontline services, concerns were raised around securing a long-term replacement for core funding which previously came from the European Union.
Looking to the future
Next year Scottish Refugee Council will celebrate its 40th anniversary, as well as the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Refugee Festival.
Three new board members were also welcomed to help oversee our efforts in the coming years: Helen Russell, Steve McManus and Mike Donnelly.
Board member Ronnie Tagwireyi spoke candidly of his own experience navigating the UK asylum system, how volunteering with Scottish Refugee Council improved his mental health, and why he continues to work in his role with us today.
He said: “It’s the positive outcomes … when you see the difference you make to people’s lives. When you see people move from uncertainty to stability, that is incredibly rewarding.
“There’s that ‘People Make Glasgow’ saying … I find there is a lot of comradery here. I have way more good days than I have bad days now.
“And, when I think about the number of people who are working to improve life for me, that keeps me going.”
