Projects for children
Playgroup
Our weekly playgroup in Edinburgh welcomes 30-40 New Scot children every Saturday, offering a variety of activities like music, sports, arts, and crafts. These activities help children develop social skills, learn new practical abilities, and integrate into their new community.
In addition to the playgroup, we also run workshops for teens, covering skills like animation, podcasting, and photography.
This project is made possible with support from The Robertson Trust. Our teen workshops are supported by the Essentia, administered by Foundation Scotland.
Welcome packs
Since 2015 we have providing Welcome Packs to newly-arrived refugee children aged 0-18 years. Initially for children from Syria, we now also support those arriving from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sudan, and other countries.
To date, we’ve distributed over 1,000 packs. Each backpack can be used as a school bag and includes essential items such as stationery, water bottles, snack or lunch boxes, hats, scarves, gloves, underwear, pyjamas, soft toys, books, games, and a Welcome to Edinburgh booklet in both English and the child’s first language.
Buy something from our Wishlist here and it will be shipped directly to our team!
This programme is supported by Bank of Scotland, Safe Deposit Scotland and The Hilden Charitable Fund.
Schoolwork group
The Home Work Club Project provides 1 to 1 after-school tutoring for primary school students.
In partnership with the University of Edinburgh, experienced tutors volunteer to provide personalised classes tailored to each student’s needs, delivered virtually. This helps students develop the language skills needed to integrate into their Scottish communities, and improve their prospects of further education and employability.
We are urgently seeking new volunteer teachers, find out more here.
This project is supported by the Essentia Fund administered by Foundation Scotland.
Young Afghan women's group
In early 2026, The Young Afghan Women’s Group created a series of short animations, using 2D puppetry and stop-motion. Working with animator Holly Summerson in a four-part workshop series, the group designed characters, created storyboards, and animated their projects using stop-motion software. The final workshop ended with a screening of the films. Thanks to Essentia for funding this project!
ESOL for Afghan girls
This pilot project began following requests from girls in the Afghan community who are either at school, in college or seeking employment & trying to improve their English language skills. It combines online learning and in-person support sessions with the help of an experienced ESOL teacher, a Dari interpreter & supporting volunteers. The girls' progress will be monitored and assessed as the project develops and assists towards them achieving their goals.
Voting rights for Syrian refugees
In partnership with Syrian Futures, Media Education, and the Edinburgh Electoral Registration Office, Re-Act created a step-by-step video to guide Syrian refugees through the process of registering to vote.
The video was made in response to feedback from the New Scot community, who shared that completing the paperwork to vote during the 2021 elections was challenging.