New project – Free multilingual welfare workshops for people with pre-settled and settled status in Scotland

New project – Free multilingual welfare workshops for people with pre-settled and settled status in Scotland

Citizens Rights Project has secured funding to organize FREE multilingual in-person welfare workshops throughout Scotland. The objective is to enhance the understanding of EU citizens and their family members regarding their rights. They will cover topics such as acess to benefits, housing rights, maternity rights, pensions, Social Security Scotland, Universal Credit and working rights.

These sessions also aimed to reduce isolation by connecting participants with other people in similar situations, and reduce the fear of migrants to ask for help or navigate a new system and culture. 

Through these workshops, we also hope to document and report on the challenges faced by EU nationals when accessing welfare services, as well as identify their needs and gaps in service provision. 

The workshops

Each workshop will focus on a specific topic, such as employment rights or housing rights, and will be conducted in one of the minority languages. This ensures that individuals with language barriers can access information about their rights. To encourage engagement and facilitate an interactive approach, we have decided to keep the workshop groups small, with a maximum of 10-12 participants for our in-person events.

Our objective is to provide practical knowledge, not only regarding the legal foundations of citizens’ rights, but also on how to address potential threats or seek assistance when their rights are violated. We are enthusiastic about promoting as many supporting organizations as possible, as we have identified a lack of awareness about available support as one of the primary reasons why migrants hesitate to seek help.

By enhancing their understanding of rights and access to support, we believe we can significantly improve the lives of individuals and provide them with greater security.

Cooperation

  • Experts

    While we have been working diligently to support immigration matters and the right to reside, we recognize that our expertise and practical experience in other areas of citizens’ rights may not be as extensive as that of other organizations. Hence, we would like to establish a mutually beneficial cooperation with partners who can contribute content for our workshops. We are eager to collaborate with organizations that already have established outreach programs and are capable of delivering workshops as part of their activities, as our initial funding does not include fees for facilitators.

    We have already secured partnerships with organisations such as Shelter, Unite, Strathclyde University Law Clinic, Aberdeen Law Project, and Social Security Scotland.

  • Community groups

    We are utilizing our extensive database of vulnerable individuals whom we have supported to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme. We invite all support organizations and community groups who believe their members or service users could benefit from our workshops to join us. Whether individuals wish to express their interest directly or prefer referrals from organizations, we welcome both approaches. Furthermore, if there is a sufficient number of participants, we are more than willing to arrange dedicated workshops for specific groups or organizations.

    Registering your interest

To participate in our workshops, please contact us at info@citizensrightsproject.org. Provide your name, the topic(s) you are interested in, your preferred language for interpretation (if needed), and your best contact details (phone number and email address)

If you are interested in exploring potential cooperation with us or would like to schedule a meeting to obtain more information about the project and how we can support your community or service users, please reach out to our project officer, Paweł Kopeć, at pawel@citizensrightsproject.org.

These workshops are organised with funding from the Community Capacity & Resilience Fund from he Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).