12 volunteers from all over Europe – from Sicily to Finland, Catalonia to the Czech Republic – came together to live and work in the Knightswood area of Glasgow.

The volunteers worked alongside local community charities from the West Integration Network to help out with events around Refugee Week, go into schools to help with workshops and also to support the Knightswood Fun Day and community parade. The volunteers stayed at Knightswood Congregational Church Hall.

As the volunteers found out, Knightswood has the highest concentration of refugees in Scotland – and integration has not always been easy.

But the events that the volunteers contributed to help promote understanding of refugees and bring people from different backgrounds together. This was the theme of the project.

In their free time volunteers watched a film about refugees at the GFT, went to the Glasgow Mela and had trips to Stirling, Loch Lomond and Edinburgh.

Volunteer evaluations

• “The best bit was working with children, talking face-to-face with refugees and having the chance to do some creative action”
• “I learned to help children, to share my experiences and many other things. What surprised me most is how everybody overcame their differences. What I got out of the experience was respect.”
• “I’ll never forget these 2 weeks. I’m proud of myself and the group. We made solutions when we had problems. Having the chance to meet, work and talk with local people, with refugees, with children and foreign people has been the best. Also the parties and the pubs!”
• “I learned to approach people who seem very different to me, and make an effort to learn about them”