At Unity for Integration Project (UFIP), partnership is central to how we create lasting change. No single organisation can address the complex challenges associated with social isolation, inequality, poor health, unemployment, cultural exclusion and barriers to integration alone.

Our partners and supporters bring funding, knowledge, facilities, professional expertise, referral pathways and opportunities that strengthen our work. In return, UFIP offers trusted relationships with communities, culturally responsive programmes, lived experience and an accessible community base at the Unity Hub in Glasgow.

Together, we are helping people feel welcomed, valued, connected and empowered to participate fully in their communities.

Funding Partners
UFIP has received support from charitable trusts, foundations and public funding programmes that share our commitment to inclusion, wellbeing and community development.

Our funders and supporters include:

Glasgow Wellbeing Fund
The Volant Charitable Trust
Victoria League Scotland Trust
Hugh Fraser Foundation
Corra Foundation’s Boost Fund
Glasgow City Heritage Trust
The Merchants House of Glasgow
Cash for Kids
The Henry Smith Charity
Network Rail Community Fund
Glasgow City Council Area Partnerships
Craignish Trust
Royal Society of Edinburgh Catalyst Award
Glasgow Life Get Active
Clothworkers’ Foundation
Foundation Scotland
Allen Lane Foundation
Alpkit Foundation
The Robertson Trust
Scottish Community Development Centre
These organisations support UFIP because our work reaches people who can be overlooked by mainstream services, including migrants, refugees, ethnically diverse communities, women, families, children, young people, students and individuals experiencing financial or social disadvantage.

Their support has helped us deliver programmes such as Thrive Together, Women’s Wellness Circles, Community Circles, Unity Wellness Connect, the Student Integration Programme, Unity Summer Smiles, Young Voices Film Lab, Hear My Voice, Our Stories, Our Streets and Our Food, Our Health.

Funding also enables us to maintain the Unity Hub as a safe, accessible and affordable place where communities can meet, learn, create, celebrate and support one another.

Health and Wellbeing Partners
Health inequalities are often connected to loneliness, poverty, migration, discrimination, language barriers and limited access to culturally appropriate information. For this reason, UFIP works with health, wellbeing and recovery organisations to ensure that community members can access relevant support.

Our relationships with organisations and services such as Glasgow’s Alcohol and Drug Partnership, Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs, Scottish Drugs Forum, Recovery Communities Glasgow, Turning Point Scotland and local health professionals help us strengthen referral pathways and provide trusted information.

These partnerships are particularly important for communities in which stigma may discourage people from seeking support. UFIP creates welcoming, culturally sensitive spaces where individuals and families can speak openly, receive guidance and connect with specialist services when appropriate.

Partners value UFIP’s ability to reach people through established community relationships. We understand that trust must often come before engagement, especially when people have experienced exclusion, trauma or difficulty navigating formal systems.

Education, Skills and Employability Partners
UFIP works with educational institutions, training providers, employers and community organisations to help people build confidence and develop practical skills.

Our programmes provide opportunities in areas such as:

Digital inclusion and digital literacy
English language and communication
Employability and job-readiness
Creative media and filmmaking
Photography and storytelling
Volunteering and leadership
Health and wellbeing education
Community research
Youth development
We particularly support people who may be returning to employment, adapting to life in the United Kingdom or trying to overcome confidence, language or digital barriers.

Through partnership, participants can gain experience, access specialist advice and develop clearer pathways into education, volunteering or employment. Our partners benefit from greater engagement with communities that may otherwise remain underrepresented in their programmes and institutions.

UFIP also welcomes university students, researchers and academic partners interested in ethical, community-led research. We believe research should be conducted with communities, not simply about them. Our partnerships help ensure that lived experience contributes to knowledge production and that research findings lead to practical community benefits.

Cultural and Creative Partners
Culture is one of UFIP’s most powerful tools for integration. Storytelling, food, music, film, photography, heritage and performance create opportunities for people to share their identities while learning about others.

UFIP works with artists, filmmakers, photographers, cultural organisations and community groups to support creative participation. Our membership of Cinema for All and our growing relationships within Scotland’s film and cultural sectors help us expand opportunities for community screenings, filmmaking, media training and cultural storytelling.

Projects such as Our Stories, Our Streets, Hear My Voice, Young Voices Film Lab, Plates, Portraits & People and Cook and Click allow community members to move beyond being passive audiences. They become filmmakers, photographers, performers, researchers, storytellers and cultural contributors.

Creative partners work with UFIP because we can connect them with diverse communities in an environment that is welcoming and familiar. These collaborations also help challenge stereotypes and ensure that Scotland’s cultural life reflects the experiences of the people who live here.

Community and Voluntary-Sector Partners
UFIP is connected to Glasgow’s wider voluntary and community sector through relationships and memberships with organisations such as Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services, Cinema for All and other local networks.

These relationships strengthen our governance, safeguarding, volunteer management and organisational development. They also allow us to exchange knowledge, identify emerging community needs and contribute to wider conversations about integration, equality and social justice.

Community organisations partner with UFIP because collaboration reduces duplication and helps people receive more coordinated support. Where another organisation is better placed to meet a particular need, we make appropriate referrals. Where UFIP has the strongest community connection or cultural understanding, we provide the trusted bridge.

Volunteers and Community Members
Some of UFIP’s most important partners are our volunteers and the people who participate in our programmes.

Our volunteers contribute time, skills, creativity, language knowledge and lived experience. They help us organise activities, welcome visitors, support children and families, facilitate workshops, produce creative content and maintain the Unity Hub.

Community members also help shape our programmes. Their feedback tells us what is needed, what is working and what must change. This community-led approach ensures that our work remains relevant and responsive rather than being based on assumptions.

Many participants later become volunteers, peer supporters or community leaders. This progression is one of the clearest signs of meaningful integration: people move from receiving support to helping shape and deliver it.

Why Organisations Choose to Partner With UFIP
Organisations partner with Unity for Integration Project because we offer:

Trusted community relationships
UFIP has developed meaningful relationships with migrant, African, ethnically diverse and underserved communities. People engage with us because they feel recognised, respected and understood.

Cultural understanding
We understand that barriers to participation are not always financial. Language, confidence, previous experiences, family responsibilities, discrimination and cultural expectations can all affect whether someone feels able to seek support.

An accessible community venue
The Unity Hub at 159 Broad Street in Glasgow provides a welcoming base for workshops, meetings, training, cultural activities, screenings, community meals and celebrations.

Practical, community-led delivery
Our programmes respond to needs identified directly by the people we serve. We combine structured activities with flexibility, warmth and personal support.

Opportunities to reach underrepresented groups
UFIP helps partners engage communities that may be missing from mainstream programmes, consultations, research and cultural activities.

A commitment to dignity and equality
We do not define people solely by the challenges they face. We recognise their knowledge, skills, identities, ambitions and ability to contribute.

Strong local knowledge
Our close relationships with community members allow us to identify emerging needs and respond quickly. We can also provide partners with valuable insight into the barriers affecting participation.

What Makes a Strong UFIP Partnership?
The strongest partnerships are built on shared values, openness and mutual respect. We welcome partnerships that:

Respond to genuine community needs
Respect cultural and individual differences
Include community voices in decision-making
Create measurable and sustainable benefits
Protect the dignity and wellbeing of participants
Share knowledge, resources and opportunities fairly
Recognise the strengths already present within communities
Support long-term change rather than one-off engagement
We are particularly interested in working with organisations that can help expand opportunities in wellbeing, employment, education, digital inclusion, youth development, filmmaking, cultural participation, community research and family support.

Partner With Unity for Integration Project
Whether you are a funder, public body, university, business, health organisation, cultural institution or community group, there are many ways to work with UFIP.

You can:

Fund a community programme
Sponsor an event or activity
Deliver a workshop at the Unity Hub
Provide specialist training or professional expertise
Create volunteering or employment opportunities
Support community research
Donate equipment or other practical resources
Develop a referral partnership
Collaborate on a cultural or creative project
Hire the Unity Hub for an event, meeting or training session
Every successful partnership begins with a conversation.

To discuss working with Unity for Integration Project, contact us at in**@******ip.org, call 0141 291 5187, or visit www.unityfip.org.

Unity for Integration Project
Unity Hub
Ground Floor, 159 Broad Street
Glasgow G40 2QR

Together, we can create communities where everyone has the opportunity to belong, participate and thrive.