Barhale has been delighted to participate in a series of small facilitated focus groups with The Bridges Programmes, the Scottish Refugee Council and the Department of Work and Pensions to discuss the contribution of refugees and migrants to the Scottish economy.

This forms part of the wider work that The Bridges Programme do to implement the New Scots – Integrating refugees in Scotland’s communities strategy. This National Scottish strategy is the policy framework to ensure refugees and migrants become active citizens in Scotland. Access to work, regaining a professional identity and being financially independent is critical to this. The group’s views and needs will inform the implementation of the strategy and will be shared on 30 March 2020 with the New Scots Leadership Board, which has ministerial representation.