FORTH VALLEY WELCOME 

The group will use the funding to continue to provide a range of support to vulnerable Syrian (and soon to arrive Afghan families) who have been resettled in Clackmannanshire as part of the UK ....more

The group will use the funding to continue to provide a range of support to vulnerable Syrian (and soon to arrive Afghan families) who have been resettled in Clackmannanshire as part of the UK Government relocation scheme. The project will help families who have experienced trauma and violence integrate into the local community and will benefit 200 individuals over 3 years.

To cover the cost of day trips for young people.

The group will use the funding to continue and enhance their existing provision helping vulnerable Syrian refugee families who have settled in Clackmannanshire to integrate into the local community. ....more

The group will use the funding to continue and enhance their existing provision helping vulnerable Syrian refugee families who have settled in Clackmannanshire to integrate into the local community. The project will benefit 120 people over three years, with 75 volunteers assisting with the project. A new full time post of Support Worker will recruit and manage a group of volunteers to assist families' access local services, improve English language skills, and move into education.

Towards the part-time salary of the Support Worker to continue and develop services to support Syrian refugee families.

Salary costs of the Volunteer/Project Co-ordinator (Syrian Refugee Integration Programme)

We want to hire a part-time Integration Support Coordinator to allow us to extend the services we provide to the Syrian refugee families who have come to our area (Stirling and Clackmannanshire) over ....more

We want to hire a part-time Integration Support Coordinator to allow us to extend the services we provide to the Syrian refugee families who have come to our area (Stirling and Clackmannanshire) over the last 20 months - and others expected to arrive gradually over the next few months. We are looking for a contribution towards the cost of the salary, plus a pension contribution, and day to day expenses for travel by the coordinator to meet the Syrians in their homes and community or to meet volunteers. The Syrians are people who have come here via the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) under the UK's Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. The aim of our support services is to help the Syrians adapt to life in Scotland as quickly as possible and to integrate step by step into the community and in due course (as their English language skills develop) into employment. The services are provided through our group of volunteers (currently 79). With the total number of Syrians now up to 103 adults and children, we need to extend our staffing resources to coordinate the work of the volunteers so that we can provide the services to a much larger group. We work in association with the two Councils, who we know the value of the services we provide and with whom we have frequent and regular contact. The support takes the form of: - welcoming on first arrival - providing extra clothes and household items over and above the basic set of items provided by the Councils - supporting families through regular visits by trained befrienders - providing transport for Syrians to hospitals and job centres, especially in the early days before they are familiar with the public transport system - providing computers to families - providing support for Syrians taking driving lessons - introducing the families to others in the community - helping family members get to know about and join local groups such as girl guides, sports clubs, allotment groups, swimming pools We also run a monthly "snack and chat" as a drop-in event for the Syrians. The Snack & Chat events are a way of the Syrians getting together with each other, with the volunteer group, and with people in the community. These events include a training session each time e.g. on first aid, on Scottish / Syrian culture, on relocation, etc. The food is supplied by both the volunteers and the Syrians, who we found were keen to contribute in that way. (They make very tasty food!) We also run: - a 'Positive Action Fund' to help with some one off expenses, e.g. club subscriptions. - a 'Crisis and Care Fund' to help with any unusual expenses that families encounter, e.g. transport to visit sick relatives. In the early days we found it easy to provide a good level of support on an equitable basis to the few families who had arrived. We are very happy to see the Councils steadily bring in new families but with the number of Syrians now up to 103 in the two counties (and expected to grow gradually in the coming months) we now need to keep up the level of support to the newer families to the same level we were able to provide for the first families who arrived. We have seen a welcome and gradual growth in the confidence and degree of integration in those first families since their arrival. We recently held a consultation session with the Syrian adults in Stirling, with the help of an interpreter, to determine the level of satisfaction with the various steps in their journey from refugee camp to life in Scotland, including their views on the services we provide and that the Council provide. (This was done with the agreement of Stirling Council's Lead Officer for refugees, who was keen to have objective feedback on how they view the services provided by the Council.) That session identified a number of desirable improvements but there was also warm appreciation of the visits by befrienders and the practical help given in various ways. With 79 volunteers, proper management and coordination of their activities is important in order to provide an even level of service to the Syrians. Helped by funding grants we were able a year ago to employ a part-time Volunteer and Project Coordinator (VPC) who manages: - the recruitment and training of volunteers including obtaining references - training of volunteers (in conjunction with the two befriending coordinators, who are both trustees of SCfS) - assignment of volunteers to families (in conjunction with the befriending coordinators) - monitoring the work of volunteers - running regular meetings of our volunteer network. The VPC has also helped to draw up policies, coordinate projects, and liaise with the Councils. However, the large number of Syrians who are now resettled here, especially in Clackmannanshire, has led to work overload on both the paid VPC and on the volunteer who coordinates the befriender services in Clackmannanshire. That is why we wish to recruit someone who can take on much of their roles. We also need to grow the number of volunteers in Clackmannanshire and our network of community contacts, and that would be an important part of the new role.

towards the salary of the part-time Volunteer Co-ordinator

Salary costs of the Volunteer/Project Co-ordinator (Syrian Refugee Integration Programme)