New Scots Huddle: Refugee Integration Through Sport

At our next Huddle, EVOC will partner with Edinburgh Leisure to host Refugee Integration Through Sport, a New Scots Huddle event. Held at Meadowbank Sports Centre, this half-day event will explore the vital role sport can play in supporting integration, building connections and promoting wellbeing among refugees and people seeking sanctuary in Scotland.

Sport can be a powerful force for integration. On the court, field or track, people can develop teamwork, take pride in their skills, meet others they might not otherwise encounter and, importantly, have fun, a welcome break from the pressures of life as a refugee. These experiences can be transformational, helping people to heal, form lasting connections and feel part of their local community.

The event will feature examples from sports clubs in Edinburgh and beyond that are supporting refugees, insights from the Olympic Refuge Foundation Think Tank and its research, and opportunities to connect and network with other organisations. Following the event, we will share key learning and explore opportunities for taking practical next steps.

We are welcoming attendance from sports clubs that already work with refugees or would like to do so, organisations across the New Scots sector, people with lived experience, and public-sector bodies and funders that support sport and integration.