At Govan Community Project, we stand alongside people seeking safety, dignity and a chance to rebuild their lives in Glasgow.  Every day, we see first-hand the courage it takes to navigate the UK asylum system, and we see the true human cost when that system fails people.   The key word here is human.   Human rights belong to all of us and should never be conditional on immigration status

That is why we are deeply concerned about the UK Government’s new Immigration and Asylum Bill.   While Westminster presents the Bill as a way to improve the system, many of its proposals remove even more basic rights and protections for those who are seeking safety.    We have seen clear messages with communities mobilising across the country, that these hostile, dehumanising policies do not reflect the views of the majority of the nation.

The proposed move away from established refugee status towards a more temporary and conditional ‘core protection’ model raises serious concerns for our communities.   Living in a prolonged state of insecurity doesn’t build inclusive supportive communities – it increases poverty, impacts on the wellbeing of individuals and families and creates division and social exclusion. People who have fled war, violence and persecution deserve safety and certainty in rebuilding their lives.     Alongside attacking those still seeking safety, these new proposals create additional insecurity and uncertainty for many of our friends, neighbours and work colleagues who are already settled here.

The Government argues that these changes are required because the asylum system is broken and that the solution in their view is to further remove people’s rights.   The well documented reality is that these problems are not caused by those seeking protection but by the evidenced poor quality of initial decision making.

Recent tribunal statistics show that 36% of asylum appeals determined by the courts were successful, and more than 40% of decisions were withdrawn by the Home Office before an appeal was heard – a clear indication that the Home Office itself recognised flaws in many original decisions., demonstrating that many people who are initially denied protection are later found to have been wrongly refused.    This raises serious concerns about fairness, accuracy, and access to justice within the system.    People seeking asylum should not have to endure months or years of uncertainty, destitution and insecurity while waiting for incorrect decisions to be corrected.

We believe a fair asylum system is one that is based on human rights and dignity and is able to make good decisions first time around, ensuring safety and protection for all who need it and ensuring individuals and families are able to rebuild their lives, and contribute to community life without spending years in limbo in a system which is dehumanising.

We are particularly concerned that the bill is proposing creation of a 2 tier system in which settled refugees will be treated differently to everyone else seeking to build their lives in the UK.

Scotland has a proud tradition of welcoming people seeking sanctuary. In Govan and across Glasgow, we see every day how refugees and people seeking asylum enrich our communities, contribute their skills, build friendships, volunteer, work and create homes. They are our neighbours, classmates, colleagues and friends.

A society should be judged by how it treats those most at risk and in need of protection. We urge the UK Government to work with us all to build an immigration system based on fairness, compassion, equality and respect for human dignity.

We make the following asks:

To our Westminster MP’s – please take the time to scrutinise this bill in detail, with the human impact in the forefront of your mind and do not just tow the party line and to oppose all measures which undermine human rights, reduce access to equality and justice and put vulnerable individuals and families at further risk of harm.

To all of our colleagues, friends and neighbours:  We urge everyone in our communities to also contact your MP’s and ask them to oppose this bill.  You can use JCWI’s helpful tool for this here:  https://jcwi.write.mp/campaigns/stopasylumbill26

Traci Kirkland 

Chief Executive

Celebrating Volunteers’ Week 2026: The Heartbeat of Govan Community Project Established in 1984, Volunteers’ Week is an annual UK-wide celebration recognising the invaluable contributions of volunteers. Running from Monday 1st to Sunday 7th June 2026, this year’s event continues its 40-plus-year legacy of uniting national organisations and grassroots groups to thank those who enrich our communities. At Govan Community Project (GCP), our volunteers don’t just help out, they make our projects possible.

How Our Volunteers Help

Our volunteers’ support and commitment to building a community founded on integration and hope is truly inspiring. Every single week, they step up to make a difference by:

• Supporting Families: Providing vital childcare so our Women’s Group members can unwind, connect, and fully participate in activities.
• Empowering the Next Generation: Guiding children at our Homework Club whose parents might struggle with the demands of Scottish schoolwork due to English being a second language.
• Nourishing the Community: Cooking for and feeding over 80 people each month at our vibrant Community Meals.

We couldn’t do what we do without the incredible volunteers who make it all possible.

What Our Volunteers Get From It

For our volunteers, joining GCP is a unique chance to connect deeply with our work, our projects, and our people. By stepping into our space, volunteers don’t just give their time, they gain:

• Invaluable Skills: Developing cross-cultural communication expertise by supporting individuals across diverse backgrounds and languages.
• Professional & Personal Growth: Gaining firsthand experience in community development, enhancing problem-solving abilities, and building lasting friendships.
• A More Inclusive Glasgow: Fostering local integration, understanding the lived experiences of New Scots, and playing a direct role in creating a welcoming community.

Stories from the Heart of GCP

Homework Club Volunteers

A Break from University Stress

For one local Psychology student, volunteering with our Homework Club began as a university placement but quickly became a deeply rewarding part of their week. Driven by a passion for equal education and a desire to give back to their own community, they found that volunteering provided a powerful boost to their own mental health, serving as a welcoming, grounding break from university stress. Through building consistent, heartwarming relationships with the children, and mastering everything from adaptive communication to the perfect ratio of Vimto juice, they gained a sense of purpose and belonging within our supportive and kind culture.

Samhar’s Full-Circle Journey

For Samhar, volunteering with the Homework Club is a personal, full-circle journey. After arriving in Glasgow from Sudan in 2016 with very little English, she first came to the club as a service user, receiving one-on-one support to build her writing confidence. Today, she is the one giving back, using her own lived experience to empathise with and motivate children facing the exact same language barriers she once did. Volunteering has boosted Samhar’s confidence, brought her immense happiness, and created a welcoming space where she feels completely at home and incredibly proud to help the next generation succeed.

Men’s Group

Countering Hostility with Kindness

One of our dedicated Men’s Group volunteers shared why they chose to step up:

“Driven by a desire to counter negative political rhetoric surrounding refugees and asylum seekers, I wanted to offer a friendly, welcoming face to those arriving in Scotland. Through volunteering, I’ve found a relaxed, pressure-free space to laugh and build friendships, which has had a massively positive impact on my own mental health and social confidence. The Men’s Group is a vital space where members can just hang out, talk, and play games. Proving that a little community inclusion goes a very long way.”

Volunteer Voices

“Volunteering with GCP is genuinely rewarding and I always leave feeling really positive after Men’s Group. It’s been an opportunity to meet great people, build meaningful connections, and feel like I’m contributing in a positive way to a community that needs kindness, support, and inclusion now more than ever.”

Women’s Group

Therapeutic Creativity & Mutual Learning

After moving to Glasgow and searching online for ways to build community, one of our brilliant volunteers found her perfect fit with the GCP Women’s Group. Driven by a deep passion for women’s wellbeing and using creativity as a therapeutic tool, she has stepped into a vital role facilitating sessions and leading activities.

She notes that walking into a room full of warm, encouraging women instantly boosts her own mental health, offering a joyful space where everyone, including herself, feels seen and valued. From learning self-defence and crocheting alongside the members to growing her own leadership, organisational, and cross-cultural communication skills, she views volunteering as her way of actively uniting a divided world through localised kindness.

Priscilla: Finding a Place to Belong

After a challenging period for her mental health following hostile political rulings against trans women, Priscilla found a lifeline through a Govan Community Project social media story. Seeing GCP’s explicit statement that trans people were safe, valued, and welcome in our spaces lifted her spirits and gave her the courage to apply as a volunteer for the Women’s Group.

Having previously used volunteering in Brazil to navigate a formal job market that excluded her despite her high education, Priscilla views volunteering as a lifelong part of her character and a vital way to maintain her mental stability and self-worth. Today, she brings incredible creativity to the group—leading activities from cross-stitch to making Carnival masks. For Priscilla, volunteering at GCP feels like traveling the world, leaving her feeling “light,” safe, respected, and deeply connected to a global sisterhood right here in Glasgow.

Community Meal Chefs

Hawa: 14 Years of Community Spirit

Hawa Dousa is one of GCP’s longest-standing community members, having first joined our women’s group when it launched in 2012. Over the years, Hawa accessed our ESOL classes and sent her five children to our homework club. In Autumn 2024, a friend encouraged her to step into a new role: volunteering as a chef for our Community Meals.

For Hawa, cooking alongside our Food Project Coordinator, Ella, and the kitchen team brings her immense joy and a massive boost to her mental health. She loves the excitement of collaborative cooking, sharing dishes from different cultures, and gaining group work experience. Her only suggestion for improvement? She wishes the community meals lasted even longer because they are just so fantastic!

Howells:  From the Courtroom to the Kitchen Hub

After practicing as a lawyer for 26 years, one of our incredible community chefs Howells arrived in Scotland facing a difficult time of lost hope due to threats to their life back home. Their journey with GCP began in September 2025 when they were invited to a community meal from their hotel in Paisley. Instantly connecting with the team over a shared love for Nigerian food and fried plantain, they quickly stepped up to volunteer.

For Howells, volunteering is a way to give back and contribute to their new home. They credit the “awesome, rare beings” on the GCP staff for stabilising their mental health, bringing them joy through collaborative kitchen cleaning, and opening up a world of cross-cultural connection—from enjoying Hawa’s soup to tasting Saheed’s baba ganoush.

Ready to Make a Difference in Govan?

You don’t need any special experience to bring kindness, support, and inclusion to our community, just an open heart. Join our team of incredible volunteers and help us build a community of integration and hope.

Become a Volunteer Today – Click Here to Sign Up!

This winter, let’s make sure families know they aren’t alone.

Right now in Glasgow, people seeking safety are facing the coldest months of the year with nowhere to turn. This isn’t what Glasgow stands for. We’re a community that supports others and doesn’t leave people at the margins. But we can’t say we welcome everyone when people who have come here to build a life can’t access the basics.

Many people seeking asylum and refugees supported by the Govan Community Project are living in destitution.

They have no access to public funds, no right to work, and no way to cover the basics like food or warm clothing.

They’ve fled danger to find safety here, but instead are left struggling to survive.

Over the past year, demand for our support has reached critical levels. Your donation can make a real difference.

£25 will provide a supermarket voucher for an individual.

£50 will provide a supermarket voucher for a family.

£6 pays for someone to access travel support.

£6 will provide a weekly shop at a pantry.

Some of the donations will also be used to fund our community meals. These are free and inclusive meals available to anyone in the community. They are an essential service that not only gives people a warm meal but also the opportunity to connect with people and make them feel less isolated.

Together, we can make sure no one is left out in the cold this winter.

Please donate today to support people seeking safety through the Govan Community Project.

If you only read the headlines, you would think that our communities are deeply divided and that people don’t look out for each other. We know this isn’t true. We work with amazing volunteers who support our activities and help people seeking asylum know that they are, and always will be, welcomed here. 

Freddie, a volunteer worker for our Homework club, wrote about why he volunteers with GCP and why this is so important. 

I’ve been a volunteer at GCP’s Homework Club every Wednesday for a little over a year now. I help out with both the primary school and the secondary school homework club. The sessions are centred on providing a fun and safe space to learn. As the name suggests, homework is a priority within the club, covering every subject matter. However, there is always an opportunity towards the end for group games and outdoor activities (if the weather allows it!). 

I see my role in Homework Club as a way to positively influence the children, helping them to develop confidence and express themselves in their learning and social skills. The feeling of community, so central to GCP, is certainly at the heart of the environment we create.

I decided to volunteer because I hold a deep conviction for justice and equality, and I feel it is right that I play a small role in helping to protect these principles for those who are vulnerable when they are so often violated by governments at home and abroad. 

Since my first meeting with Petra (Volunteer Coordinator), I have been impressed by the level of services offered by GCP. From the men’s group, to the bike scheme, to the homework club, it really offers the community something for everyone. We are so connected as a team, even when there is so much variety in the activities and events taking place. 

I also volunteer with GCP because of the campaigning. As a charity, GCP are unafraid to call out the highest levels of leadership, and we proudly emphasise our diversity in a time where politics so often attacks it.

Frankly, I am disgusted by the rising anti-migrant rhetoric.  In reality, no matter how much politicians hide behind divisive lines, the root cause is racism, xenophobia and islamophobia, and it should be called out as such. That’s why it’s so important for charities like the GCP to not only exist but grow, as they highlight the very best of what migrants and refugees can offer Glasgow and beyond. 

If you also want to support charities bringing communities together, you can check out our volunteer opportunities or consider donating to our winter appeal!

We Stand with Refugees

Over the past year, we have seen the policy on asylum and migration become more hostile and inhumane, and further from compassionate policies based on human rights. Now, the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has announced further policies which will further degrade the safety and well-being of people seeking protection in the UK. 

This announcement denies people seeking safety the stability they need to make a life in the UK. Instead, it feeds the idea that people trying to make a life for themselves in the UK are outsiders rather than future colleagues, neighbours and friends.

The proposed changes to policy include:

• People granted refugee status would have to reapply to remain in Britain every two-and-a-half years. If their country has been deemed ‘safe’ in that time period, their status may not be renewed.
• Refugees could be stuck in this process for 20 years before they can apply for permanent residence. 
• Restricting the right to family reunion.
• Making it even more difficult for people seeking asylum to access accommodation and support.
• Changes to human rights law, limiting the use of Article 8 (Right to Private and Family Life) and reviewing the application of Article 3 (Prohibition of Torture and Inhumane Treatment).

The Home Secretary said that this is necessary because “illegal migration is dividing the country”. But we know that it’s actually these racist, chaotic and unworkable policies that are dividing our communities. 

It is more important than ever to vocally and proudly support refugees and people seeking asylum. Every day, we support people fleeing conflicts who are simply trying to rebuild their lives here, and we aren’t alone. We stand with many other charities, community groups, and their supporters who believe refugees should always be welcomed here. 

We need compassionate asylum policies that keep families together and allow people to be part of communities. If we want communities to feel connected and confident, the stories we tell and the policies we push need to bring people in, not push them further to the margins.

Tell your MP: Compassion Not Cruelty.

Read Free Movement’s Explainer on the proposed policy changes.