Moments of Freedom awarded small grant by the Scottish Refugee Council for community inclusion in COVID-19
Moments of Freedom, a Clydebank-based group led by Syrian women who came to the UK as refugees in 2015, has received a small grant for their digital and social inclusion funded by Foundation Scotland and the National Emergencies Trust distributed by the Scottish Refugee Council (SRC).
The Moments of Freedom community project
Moments of Freedom was established in 2017-18, with support from community development charity Outside The Box and funding from West Dunbartonshire Council. It was named after the moments that the women have to themselves, away from usual family commitments.
It is a project led by Syrian women who have resettled in Clydebank with their families having had to flee the war in their home country. Moments of Freedom work hard to make meaningful connections across their local community and to share their learning across Scotland for the benefit of other new Scot families. Watch this video about Moments of Freedom’s story.
It has now been running for 2 years and in that time the women have shaped their project beyond integration. They have become skilled in community scoping, identifying gaps for women’s wellbeing and developing safe spaces for women to come together across the community. They regularly hold ‘community gatherings’ and women’s wellbeing events.
The impact of the SRC grant: translation and access
Speaking about their grant, Noura from the Moments of Freedom group said: This will be so helpful for us- we have been working so hard to integrate and offer our skills in the community but because of lockdown we can’t meet other people and are worried what this means for our families integration. Now we will be able to join online groups and get information translated.
The grant will support partnership work with the Clydebank Community Response network to translate and share local information. This will mean Moments of Freedom group have access to and can share opportunities for their social inclusion in accessible formats. This will be supported by digital inclusion packs and resources the group can use to increase their participation.
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