Our Refugee Support Service runs training courses to help professionals improve the way they work with refugees and people seeking asylum by boosting their knowledge, skills and understanding.
Between June and August this year, we delivered 18 training sessions to 250 frontline workers from 12 council areas across Scotland. We caught up with our training officer Susannah her to find out more.
“We offer a range of training to help professionals and volunteers gain a greater understanding of the immigration system and how they can support people seeking sanctuary in the UK.
It is suitable for anyone who might come into contact with refugees and people in the asylum system through the course of their work. For example, people from refugee-led groups and charities, staff from local councils, schools and universities, social workers or people providing housing and other services. It’s a real mix.
Participants leave our sessions with a better understanding of the systems people seeking protection have to navigate and their rights and entitlements.
It’s so important that people delivering services get just how challenging the refugee and asylum process can be for those going through it. Understanding those barriers is really key to ensuring people are equipped to do their jobs well.
Our training is mostly delivered online which makes it easier for people from all over Scotland to attend. Recently, we’ve had people joining from the Highlands, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perth, Stirling, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
People can join public training courses, or sessions can be commissioned for an organisation. In a typical public session, you get a real mix of people in different roles and with different levels of experience.
We try to use case studies and activities to make our sessions engaging and give people a chance to think about how they might handle particular situations in real life.
A lot of our training focusses on the systemic challenges people seeking sanctuary face. That can feel quite bleak, so we give participants opportunities to talk about positive things happening in their local area too. Getting to meet and share with others working with refugees in Scotland can be really valuable for people.
We receive loads of lovely feedback from people who have attended our training courses. Here are just a few examples.
“It was really excellent information. We work with people who are asylum seekers and refugees so it is very helpful to better understand the systems that these individuals are in and what they are going through. It was delivered well and I thought the two trainers were both excellent.”
– Participant who attended Introduction to Refugees: Asylum and Resettlement
“I think it is really well organized and the speakers were knowledgeable, nice and approachable. The activities in the breakout rooms made it entertaining and the information provided was very interesting and valuable. Thanks again.”
– Participant who attended Introduction to Working with Unaccompanied Refugee Children
“What I learned today was informative and very well presented.”
– Participant who attended Introduction to Supporting Refugee Integration
Find out more about the training we provide for professionals working with refugees and people seeking asylum
Our Refugee Support Service is here for anyone who needs or help, wherever in Scotland they are based. Find out more.
