Our Heritage
The Scottish Refugee Council is a charity set up in the 1980s to respond to refugee needs. This project aimed to increase knowledge and understanding of the experiences of Belgian refugees in Scotland during the First World War, and look at the experience of refugees and asylum seekers settled in Scotland today.
The project team worked with a group of refugees, supporting them to undertake research. Their task was to discover and document the arrival, reception and experiences of the 19,000 Belgian refugees who arrived in Glasgow during the First World War, fleeing their homes as war on the Western Front unfolded. As well as uncovering the past, the volunteers recorded their own experiences of integration and finding acceptance as 'new Scots'.
Once the research was complete, the volunteers shared what they had found through public events, an art exhibition and a documentary, which premiered at the Refugee Festival Scotland in June 2016.
The project has left a legacy of new research and an archive of materials, a film about the project, photographs, objects and artwork that are available for loan or exhibition.