It will work across six local authority areas
A housing association is to offer 300 homes to Ukrainian refugees across several local authorities in Scotland.
Wheatley Group will offer the homes in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, West Lothian, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire.
The pledge, made on World Refugee Day, will help support the pledge by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government that Scotland will home a proportionate share of displaced people from the Ukraine arriving in the UK.
Neil Gray, minister responsible for refugees from Ukraine, said: “We appreciate the Wheatley Group, as Scotland biggest social landlord, making homes and support available to displaced people from Ukraine. Alongside their everyday work to support people with housing needs, they have recognised the importance of assisting national efforts to home thousands of people fleeing Ukraine.
“The Scottish Government and partners have been providing practical support to displaced people. Ensuring we have a supply of safe, secure homes in partnership with councils, housing partners and individual host volunteers is a vital part of this work, and we are grateful to everyone who is supporting this.
“We also welcome the Wheatley Group’s generous bursaries to help Ukrainian musicians to continue their studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.”
In addition, Wheatley Foundation – the Group’s charitable trust which invests over £5 million annually supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable people in Wheatley communities – will offer six education bursaries worth £3000 over two years to support Ukrainian students studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland from September.
Wheatley Group chair Jo Armstrong said: “We want to play our part in supporting Ukrainians who are seeking sanctuary from the war and provide them with a safe place to live during this ongoing crisis.
“We will use our expertise and experience, as well as our scale and capacity, to bolster Scotland’s response to the unfolding horror of the war in Ukraine. We will ensure our tailor-made wraparound support services meet the urgent needs of refugees from Ukraine, as it has for the people and families in turmoil who’ve arrived here from other countries in recent years.”
Professor Jeffrey Sharkey, principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, added: “We’re so grateful to Wheatley Foundation for their support of young artists from Ukraine who are coming to study with us in Glasgow at Scotland’s national conservatoire. Generosity like this sends a strong signal of support for them, of the power of the arts to bring us together and of the warm welcome Glasgow offers.”
Refugees will also get information to help them access employment, education and volunteering, as well as make cultural and social connections and get involved in leisure and sport.
