Monday - Thursday
10am - 1pm

 About

Govan Community Project is a community-based organisation working in south-west Glasgow. They support the diverse communities in the Greater Govan area and refugees and people seeking asylum all over Glasgow. They aim to achieve social justice in the Greater Govan area by building a strong community based on equality, mutual respect, support, and integration.

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 Services

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Advice and advocacy

The Advice and Advocacy team provide advice, information and support on a variety of issues and help the service users to access their rights and entitlements. The organisation is registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) to provide advice on asylum and protection matters.

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What do the advice and the advocacy do?

• Advice on support options available

• Applying for Home Office support, including helping with gathering destitution evidence for the application.

• Appealing refusals or discontinuations of Home Office support applications 

• Help with accessing emergency accommodation 

• Help with problems with ASPEN cards or other asylum support related issues

• Applications for destitution grants

• Finding foodbanks in your local area

• Free food parcels for people who are destitute

• Accessing English classes

• Accessing social groups

• Accessing healthcare

• Finding volunteering opportunities

• Finding an immigration solicitor

• Orientation advice for newly arrived asylum seekers

• Signposting to other relevant services

• Referrals to our Early Intervention Workshops for more detailed information on the asylum proces

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Community flat

Since 2010, Govan Community Project has delivered a range of different services from our community flat.  Our community flat is a key part of our service provision, from which we run our ESOL classes, women's group, men's group, and homework club.
Open 5 days a week, the community flat is also available as a space for other charities or community groups to use free of charge. We pride ourselves on offering a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment local residents and community groups to meet and take part in activities.  

Homework club

Helping children with homework, reading, writing and researching, while also supporting parents.
Monday and Wednesday from 16:00 - 18:00 at our community flat (address above).

Covid-19 update: After a period of running online homework support and outdoor sessions, Homework Club has now returned to our community flat, with full social distancing measures in place. Contact home@govancommunityproject.org.uk for more information.

       

Interpreting

Established in 2011, VoiceOver is a not-for-profit social enterprise providing high quality, affordable interpreting and translation services across Glasgow and Central Scotland.
Our professional, friendly interpreters cover a huge range of languages, from Amharic and Arabic to Wolof and Yoruba and most languages in between!
We work with with a number of housing associations, local councils, the British Red Cross, Scottish Guardianship Service, the Refugee Council, solicitors, Citizens Advice Bureaus and more. We provide both face to face interpreters and document translation for an affordable fixed fee.
We can also provide free support on How to Use an Interpreter Effectively, to ensure your staff are confident in these situation, maximising their time and your money.
​To find out more, please visit www.voiceoverinterpreting.org.uk or contact Fraser on fraser@voiceoverglasgow.org.uk or 0141 440 0649

       

Early Intervention workshops

These workshops were directed towards those in the early stages of the asylum process in the UK. Early Intervention is a method of providing those in the asylum process with as much information as early as possible, so that they can be best prepared for their journey ahead. Our workshop sessions covered preparing for the Substantive Interview, working with a lawyer, and understanding the asylum support system (Section 98/95/4).The content of our workshops was developed in collaboration with our community members who had lived experience of the asylum process. This collaboration further highlighted the importance of Early Intervention work as the feedback demonstrated that it is crucial that asylum seekers have access to as much information as possible from the beginning of the process. 

       

Men's Group

Before the pandemic, Men's Group was a place for men in our community to come together, make new friends, learn skills and share a meal together. Since April 2020, the group has been meeting weekly on Zoom on Friday evenings from 17:30-20:30. Each meeting the men discuss different topics and share information, skills and experiences.
Contact gcpmg@govancommunityproject.org.uk for more information.

      

English Class

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, we ran English classes from our community flat. Now, we are delivering free online English classes twice a week at beginner and intermediate levels, as well as an in-person class for absolute beginners in our office. On Monday afternoons, we hold a Conversation Cafe for informal learning and socialising in our office.

​These classes have been possible thanks to the help and commitment of our ESOL volunteer tutors and digital support funding, which has enabled GCP to supply people with the technology they need to learn English from their own homes.

Our classes: 
Absolute Beginners: 10am-12pm Thursday (Community Flat)
Beginners: 10am-12pm Monday (Online)
Intermediate: 10am-12pm Tuesday (Online)
Conversation Cafe: 2pm - 4pm Monday (Office)
​For more information about our English classes, please contact esol@govancommunityproject.org.uk
 

Strategy Group

The Strategy Group started with 10 community members in summer 2020. The group have been working on evaluating GCP's previous Strategic Plan. This is an important initiative for ensuring that community members' voices, opinions and experiences are heard and that they help shape GCP's strategy and services. The group have come together online for workshops, trainings and social meetings. As well as focussing on GCP's strategy and services, the group members have also been discussing the issues that refugees and asylum seekers face and the ways in which we can advocate and support each other. 

The members have shared many stories and experiences within the group and are now looking for ways to share their stories with wider audiences to raise awareness. The group is excited to be working on a short film documenting their experiences and hope this will contribute to better understandings of the experiences and issues faced by asylum seekers and refugees in Glasgow. Watch this space for updates!

Covid-19 update: Due to restrictions, the Strategy Group are currently only meeting online.

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Women's group

Our Women's Group brings women from diverse backgrounds together to share food, have discussions, participate in arts activities, go on outings and celebrate community events. 
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Fridays 12:00-14:00

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Women's Group started meeting weekly online. It has provided a support network for women from diverse backgrounds in difficult and uncertain times, to connect, relax and learn. Each week was different, and recent sessions have included information sessions, zumba, breathing exercises and discussion on a range of topics.
As restrictions have slowly eased, the Women's Group have been meeting for meeting for weekly walks as well as online sessions.
Women's Group aims to be led by the needs of group members, responding to ideas that the group has for the weekly sessions. We always welcome suggestions for future activities and will try as much as possible to make them happen.
Please contact gcpwg@govancommunityproject.org.uk for more information.