Social Support and Migration in Scotland

This community consultation event was carried out in collaboration with Dundee and Angus College. The consultation event was linked to the opening of the "Scotland in Our Eyes" exhibition at Arbroath Library. 

A total of 19 students, from Talinn in Estonia in the north to Torre Boldone in Italy in the south, worked on this exhibition over a few months in a bid to share their experiences of living in Scotland, and their culture and pride with local residents (Dundee and Angus College)

The day started with the opening of the exhibition which was followed by the consultation organised by SSAMIS. ‌

The consultation focused on three themes which came across as significant in our research: English language provision in Angus, how to bring communities together, and newcomers’ engagement with Angus Council. We also held discussions on our PAR ideas: an international café and Flex-ESOL – flexible and interactive English language courses online. We invited students from D&A College and local stakeholders (e.g. representatives of Angus Council) to take part in these discussions. In order to make sure everyone’s voice is represented, we used the Ketso toolkitfor creative engagement. It was an enjoyable and productive day for all of us: the students appreciated the opportunity to meet new people and speak their minds, the stakeholders appreciated the opportunity to hear from them and exchange views and opinions, and the SSAMIS team appreciated everyone’s engagement! 

One of the outcomes from the event was the decision to form a steering group for the development of the Angus Community Café - a safe, family‐friendly and open space where people from the whole community (both newcomers and long‐term residents) could meet, establish interest groups and share skills and activities (such as crafts, sewing, photography, kids activities, etc.) Such an initiative would help build bridges between the local and newcomer communities and address the issue of loneliness and isolation newcomers face in Angus, as identified in our research. Moreover, the café could serve a number of other aims (such as engaging residents with services, providing volunteering opportunities and providing additional opportunities for learning English).
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First published: 1 September 2016