Since February 2023, New Gorbals Housing Association has received almost £1.6 million in funding from the Scottish Government’s Ukrainian Longer Term Resettlement Fund (ULTRF).

This government support meant that 52 previously void New Gorbals properties have been improved to a condition where they can once again function as homes in the area.

On Thursday 11th July, the ministers met with families who have been housed through the scheme.

Housing minister Paul McLennan said: “More than 27,000 displaced people with a Scottish sponsored visa have arrived in the UK since the start of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, and we are committed to helping them access safe and secure accommodation for as long as they need it.

“This project is a shining example of what can be achieved when local housing associations, government and local authority partners work together. The homes brought back into use through this project will help more Ukrainian individuals and families settle into the local area, and many will be returned as social housing stock once they are no longer needed – leaving a positive legacy for the community.

“Our Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund is already supporting 21 projects like this across the country, bringing more than a thousand empty properties back into use and housing more than two thousand people seeking refuge from the war.”

Gorbals is a diverse area, which has historically attracted many immigrant groups, including Highland Gael, Italian, Irish, Lithuanian and Jewish immigrants over the nineteenth and twentieth century. More recently, immigrants from Somalia, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan have made the Gorbals their home.

The first tenants housed in Gorbals through the ULTRF began settling into their new homes in spring 2023. Since then, New Gorbals Housing Association has welcomed more than 100 Ukrainian men, women and children to the area.

Household compositions vary from single persons to couples with two children. There are 20 children in total, including one who has been born here in Scotland.

Jean Miller, chair of New Gorbals Housing Association, said: “We were delighted to welcome the Minister for Housing, Paul McLennan MSP, and the Minister for Equalities, Kaukab Stewart MSP, to the Gorbals to see the progress that has been made to welcome those who have been displaced as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

“The ULTRF has allowed us to bring previously void properties up to a habitable standard at a time when there is increasing cost pressures on both the Association and those who live in the Gorbals.

“Gorbals is an area which is no stranger to diversity and accommodating communities of migrants or displaced people, and we believe that through the Association and its wider community work, those who have been resettled through the scheme will find Gorbals a welcoming place.”

Borys Samchuk, a Gorbals resident benefitting from the ULTRF scheme, said: “My family and I are so grateful and thankful for the help given by New Gorbals Housing Association and are very happy to be living here.

“We have felt really welcomed into Gorbals and are building links within the community. My wife is part of the choir and we hope to find a community facility for the group to continue practising and growing.”

Through New Gorbals’ Wider Action and Tenant Participation remit, the Association has organised Ukrainian Tenant Meetings, offering the opportunity to meet neighbours and find out how to get more involved in their local community.

Most of the households are in the Riverside neighbourhood and the Association is acquiring a nearby building and will pursue funding to convert it to a community centre facility which will be for the whole Riverside community. The centre will provide a space for Ukrainian households to share, and integrate with the wider community.