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Edinburgh Reporter
31-05-2025
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
The new-look Ron Gordon Football Festival scheduled for 21 June at HTC
Featuring members of the current Hibs men's and women's squads, and coaching staff – this year, fans have an opportunity to be managed by their heroes whilst raising funds for a wide range of community initiatives. Following on from the mould set by the inception of the Ron Gordon Football Challenge in 2023, this year will allow members of the Hibernian community to play at HTC for the day, with some special guests at the helm of each team. Hibs First Team Captain and HCF Board Member Joe Newell will be there on the day and is confirmed as one of the coaches for the event! The current captain is not alone in making his managerial debut at HTC, with Cadden brothers Nicky and Chris, Jordan Obita, Jordan Smith and Rudi Molotnikov all joining him on the sidelines. The star-studded manager list doesn't stop there, however, with more players, coaching staff and legends expected to be announced by HCF in due course. Proceeds from purchasing a spot in each team will go towards HCF's various initiatives surrounding the Hibernian Community, including: community meals, events for the elderly, mental health support networks, initiatives for New Scots, and community football. 'We are absolutely thrilled to have Joe and the others signing on this year for the Ron Gordon Football Festival,' said HCF Board Chair Steve Smith. 'The work done by the entire team at the Foundation affects the community in such a positive light, and whenever players – current and past – get involved it always allows us to elevate the event and draw more attention to the great work we do. I'm really excited for the day and can't wait to see how the players go with their coaching.' The Ron Gordon Football Festival is named in honour of Hibernian FC's late owner, Ron Gordon. Ron was passionate about the work done by HCF and about providing football opportunities for all, regardless of their background. The structure of the day will follow a slightly different format from previous years. The morning will act as a showcase of HCF's Community Clubs, offering them the chance to play at HTC. The afternoon will then follow the format of a 7-a-side round-robin tournament in which Hibs players past and present will attempt to coach their team to victory. Over the course of the day there will be food trucks and family fun on offer for families and players to enjoy. For more information on the day itself, visit the event page here. Like this: Like Related
The Herald Scotland
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Refugee Festival Scotland announces 25th year lineup
More than 150 free events will take place across Scotland from June 13 to 22, featuring artists and performers from more than 30 countries. This year's theme, Milestones, celebrates decades of cultural enrichment, renewal and welcome, made possible by providing sanctuary in Scotland. It pays tribute to the effort, creativity and coming together of so many to sustain this. The festival also seeks to raise awareness of the global refugee crisis, with numbers of forcibly displaced individuals continuing to rise due to conflicts in regions such as Ukraine, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Read More: Among the events at the festival will be the premiere of Within the Fragments of Gurbet a specially commissioned film that maps Glasgow through the experience of five New Scots, including filmmaker Bircan Birol herself. Aberdeen will host Living Rhythms: Stories and Beats of Resilience, a vibrant celebration of refugee experience through storytelling, drumming and dance. In Dundee, a Ukrainian theatre group is staging a musical interpretation of Robinson Crusoe, exploring parallels between Crusoe's journey and the experience of forced displacement. There are a number of landmark collaborations between artists taking place across the festival, epitomised by the specially designed festival artwork by Yemeni artist Shatha Altowai and Palestinian artist Jude Ershead. Shapes, carefully stacked and balanced, represent the resilience and strength of refugees. As the layers build upon one another, they create a solid foundation – just as refugees, despite their diverse origins, come together to form strong, united communities. The patterns are inspired by traditional clothing, architecture, and crafts from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, and Iran. Refugee Festival Scotland manager, Mónica Laiseca said: 'Milestones offer us a moment to reflect on the incredible journeys people have taken to find safety here in Scotland. This festival is a tribute to their courage and a celebration of the warm welcome and support they have received from local communities over the past 25 years. We mark years of championing New Scot creativity as a vital part of Scottish culture and recognising the invaluable heritage that has been carefully assembled over the last quarter of a decade which deserves to be meaningfully supported, lived and carried forward. The festival aims to bring people from different backgrounds together to meet, mix and get to know each other better and we hope this year's event inspires even more connection, creativity, and solidarity among people.' Scottish Refugee Council chief executive, Sabir Zazai said: 'Bringing people from different cultures together to build friendship, solidarity and a sense of shared community is more important than ever. Last summer, racist riots swept across parts of the UK, creating fear in refugee and migrant communities. None of us ever want to see anything like that again. By uniting against these acts of violence and hostility, we're showing that a better way is possible. 'We believe Refugee Festival Scotland is an antidote to the negativity and hostility that's started to characterise conversations about migration and about people seeking safety here. Join us in June to see hope and positivity in action as we celebrate the diversity of all Scotland's communities.' Refugee Festival ambassador Shahid Khan said: 'Refugee Festival Scotland is a celebration – not just of culture and diversity, but of possibility. It's a moment to stop and reflect on the journeys being made all around us. This year, let us honour every milestone reached – and work together to remove the barriers that still remain. 'Integration is not just about what newcomers do to adapt, it's also about what kind of society they're adapting to. The more we foster kindness, opportunity, and mentorship, the more milestones we'll see for all of us.'
The National
11-05-2025
- The National
Cycling group setting wheels in motion for women in Scotland
Women On Wheels' Tuesday begins with a morning session for beginners, where riders navigate cones and obstacles, gaining one-to-one advice on how to improve their cycling skills. In the afternoon, another session allows more confident riders to set out on a gentle ride around the surrounding area, through parks or woodland areas, with hills or more challenging terrain. The women attending these sessions are New Scots who have arrived in Scotland from countries including Iran, Nigeria, Tanzania and Ukraine. Some of the women are experiencing cycling as a new hobby, and for others, they are trying to rebuild their lives and navigate an unfamiliar city, looking for connections and routine. The purpose of the sessions is not only to improve riders' skills, but to give the women a better understanding of their local area, improving their confidence to navigate Glasgow. The sessions often cover bike rides in Queen's Park or Kelvingrove, and recently helped one woman build the confidence to cycle from Maryhill all the way to the southside. For some, cultural and religious rules have prevented women from learning to cycle in their home country. Soraya, a young woman from Tanzania, explained how she had cycled as a child before being forced to give it up due to restrictions that prevented women from cycling. She said: 'In my country, as a teenager I had to stop cycling. It is especially difficult as a Muslim and while wearing a headscarf.' Since attending the sessions in Glasgow, she has seen women of different faiths and nationalities take up the activity and says 'cycling now makes me feel free'. Eilidh has run multiple riding sessions with refugees across different charities in Glasgow for almost a decade. She has successfully brought together women from across groups such as Sunny Cycles and Bikes for Refugees, to a space where women are sure to feel welcomed and comfortable. As with many grassroots initiatives, she has hopped from project to project, supporting people until funding has run out. READ MORE: Doctor who grew up in Gaza gives 'emotional' speech at Highlands pro-Palestine march Her informal WhatsApp group chat ''Cycling Sisters' is part of the success of the sessions. This group brings together women from different charities, ensuring that women are never left behind if the funding for projects runs out. Rides and sessions are shared here, as well as photographs and funny videos. Most of the women have heard about the sessions through word of mouth. For many, it is not just a cycling group but a support network, which has allowed them to gain access to more support services in Scotland or even to hear about volunteering and work opportunities. As asylum seekers are not allowed to work, many women are keen to find volunteering jobs that fit around their ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses, a college programme that helps refugees to learn English. Women On Wheels helps to put women in contact with other groups and on the most recent Tuesday ride, the session stopped at Urban Roots, a community-led gardening project, where one woman was introduced to volunteering opportunities. The women feel that cycling is not only beneficial for their physical health, but for their mental health and sense of belonging. Edith, from Nigeria, is one of dozens of women who has taken part in the cycling sessions and feels an increased sense of community and friendship since joining. Edith was introduced to Eilidh when she was still living in hotel accommodation in Glasgow and describes the sessions as giving her confidence and happiness in an extremely challenging time. Women On Wheels works closely with the Scottish Refugee Council and will be hosting an event for Refugee Festival Scotland, taking place from June 13-22. Women from across different refugee sessions will be invited to a dinner at the Milk Cafe where they can share delicious food, in keeping with their cultures. For many, hotel food has been unfamiliar and poor, with little opportunity to cook and eat their preferred dishes. In a time of polarised political discourse surrounding refugees and displaced people, Women On Wheels and its refugee sessions are a quiet and powerful network, whose amazing work has mostly gone unnoticed. For the women who take part, these sessions are more than a bike ride. They are a space to grow in confidence, build community and friends and gain a sense of freedom and knowledge about the local area.
The National
05-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Ian Blackford: The SNP are not and never have been ethnic nationalists
Iain Macwhirter has often been a purveyor of the art of the distinguished commentator however, whilst often being a critic of the SNP, his column for the Times of May 5, let me be charitable, is a gross mischaracterisation of the SNP and its long history of civic nationalism. I am proud that the SNP have sought to provide a vision of a prosperous and socially just Scotland for all those who choose to live here. Not an exclusive narrow nationalism but an inclusive civic nationalism which is also rooted in an internationalist perspective. Iain talks about the SNP seeking the restoration of national sovereignty. Whilst this is true it has been argued that we also recognise the limitations of national sovereignty and that to maximise the wellbeing of the citizens of Scotland, to give one example, such as EU membership, rightly that sovereignty is shared. READ MORE: Scotland urged to 'take lead' on investigating Donald Trump's finances What is at the core of the vision and indeed the ethos of the SNP is we have a rich society, and I mean that in the broadest sense, as well as benefiting from the rich diversity of Scotland. I recall in the Paisley South by-election in 1997 often talking about 'it is not where you are from, it is where you are going', defining how the SNP saw the community of the realm of Scotland and the welcome we give to those who come here. The much missed Bashir Ahmad (below) often spoke of his experiences of coming to Scotland in his speeches. The term New Scots, was and is used to characterise those who had settled in Scotland and become part of Scotland's story. Equally I would argue that the roots of that civic nationalism can be found in the writings of those who were part of the establishment of the SNP in 1934, visionaries such as Robert Bontine Cunningham Graham, John MacCormick and Sir Alexander MacEwen to name but three. These were not narrow nationalists, all three were internationalist. It is in this regard to read Iain Macwhirter stating that the SNP has benefitted from promoting ethnic nationalism has to be challenged. That has never been and never will be the ethos of the SNP. Not only does the false claim of ethnic nationalism fail to stand up to scrutiny, but this is also followed up with the claim that the phrase 'I want my country back' is the essence of the SNP's mission statement. I struggle to find any evidence for such a claim. A party rooted in civic nationalism accepting the claim of right of the people can never be characterised in such a way. It is a democratic movement enshrined in the principle of putting power in the hands of the people. We then have the accusation of seeking the repatriation of oil wealth. The past is the past and it would be fair to say the legacy of a bonanza in tax receipts from the bounty of North Sea oil has been squandered. It does allow pertinent questions to be put as to where is the legacy and to contrast the experience of Scotland with independent Norway, a country with a massive financial legacy from oil, high income levels and a more equal society. It was not narrow nationalism to argue that there had to be a financial legacy for Scotland, it was economic sense. READ MORE: John Curtice: 'Little prospect' of Scots electing a Unionist leader Fifty years on from North Sea oil we face what should be the economic opportunities from the transition to green energy. An opportunity to take advantage from the scale opportunity not just to produce energy but to create a competitive advantage for a green industrial future. Driving in investment with the aim of creating job opportunities, driving wealth creation and as a result the resources and wherewithal to tackle the problems of too many people in our country being trapped in poverty. That is the SNP that I am a member of seeking that wealthier, greener, fairer Scotland. That is not the SNP or the Scotland that Iain Macwhirter mischaracterised.
The National
04-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Sabir Zazai: Scotland dodged riots as refugees better integrated
Swathes of England descended into chaos in July and August last year after the fatal mass stabbing of children at a dance class in Southport, Merseyside – following fake online rumours that the perpetrator was a Muslim refugee. But riots never spread to Scotland, something the Scottish Refugee Council's chief executive, Sabir Zazai puts down to the country's approach to integrating migrants. Zazai, himself a refugee from Afghanistan, told the Sunday National: 'We have taken a rights-based whole-society approach to integration in Scotland and since 2013, the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy is heralding a new course to building and expanding diverse and integrated communities across Scotland.' The strategy aims to ensure that refugees are 'included in and contribute to society and to their communities' from the first day they arrive in Scotland. He said the strategy meant refugees were seen not as 'a threat or a burden but as people who have so much to contribute to our society'. Asked whether this had helped Scotland avoid last year's riots, Zazai (above) said: 'Partly that, partly how we work together, partly it is the framework that has been created as part of the successful delivery of New Scots engaging with the police, engaging with other authorities, when the riots were happening we were here, speaking with the police, speaking with local authorities, speaking with others, looking at how we avoid a situation like this. 'I'm not getting into Scottish exceptionalism, we do have our own issues here as well, the riots could have been worse here, too but we do have those frameworks.' Scotland has proportionately lower rates of immigration than the rest of the UK, taking in around 6% of the total number of immigrants compared with a population share of 8%. The country also has more positive attitudes about immigration than the UK, with data showing that 38% of Scots said more people should come to the country, versus 22% of people in the UK as a whole. When asked whether it should be reduced, 28% of Scots said immigration should be reduced against 48% of people across the UK. Zazai called on the UK Government to follow Scotland's lead, saying: 'In Scotland, we have that strategy, it's world-renowned, it's been flagged by the [UN Refugee Agency] as the best model for integration and the UK Government has got an opportunity to learn from that. 'We do have an opportunity in the UK to learn from the devolved government's approach to refugee integration, to create a UK-wide integration strategy and invest in that. Integration needs investment, you cannot expect people to sound like us and be part of our society when you put them below the poverty line and expect them to rebuild their lives.' As well as being beneficial for society, Zazai said there was a moral imperative for Britain to take in asylum seekers, adding: 'When people arrive, fleeing from some of the most dreadful conflicts around the world, it's everyone's responsibility to help them rebuild their lives.' Zazai also accused Labour of aping the far-right with some of their policies, especially a new policy to publish the ethnicities of criminals awaiting deportation, which critics say will result in 'league tables' of the worst-offending groups. After British nationals, the worst-offending groups are Albanians, Poles and Romanians – none of which are in the top nationalities of people claiming asylum in the UK. He said: 'Whether it's the criminal league tables or preventing refugees from seeking citizenship, the UK Government has announced a number of headline-grabbing measures. These are hostile statements which only increase divisions and fuel misinformation in our communities.' (Image: Henry Nicholls/PA Wire) Zazai added: 'We've got to take that whole society approach and not divide communities by labels in that way. That is what the far-right does.' On 'league tables', Zazai said that they would create the impression that foreigners were responsible for more crime than in reality, adding: 'The criminal league tables, the Government would never do an achievement league table of refugees.' He also blasted Labour's citizenship ban on asylum seekers who arrive in the country illegally – such as by arriving in small boats – saying that getting his British passport was a major moment for him in feeling part of society. He said: 'Citizenship was an important moment in my own journey. That sense of belonging and that sense of being part of a society starts at that moment.' The UK Government was approached for comment.
