The Inspire Project was developed by The Welcoming Association and Volunteering Matters to meet the clear need to support young New Scots refugees and asylum seekers in overcoming the barriers they faced when relocating to and living in a new city, helping them to thrive and play an active role in their new communities.

New Scots arriving in Scotland often face multiple barriers to further education, employment, training and many other opportunities. The Inspire Project was established to tackle these challenges, drawing on the unique skills and expertise of partners.

Throughout the project, we provided tailored and bespoke support to young New Scots, helping them to build skills and confidence, explore career options, plan for the future, integrate into their communities and ultimately move forward in life. We empowered participants to volunteer in their communities and facilitated opportunities for each young person to benefit from a positive, trusting mentoring relationship as wrap-around support.

Our amazing mentors

Through our equitable volunteer recruitment strategy, we have attracted Volunteer Mentors from many backgrounds and walks of life.

This includes Mentors of all ages including students, retired people and working professionals looking for a career change or an opportunity to give back to the local community.

We have welcomed Mentors from various cultural backgrounds who have lived experience of relocating, as well as people who speak additional languages other than English. Volunteers who can speak Arabic and Persian have supported us to reach beneficiaries with little to no English and successfully tailor our support to them.