About Us
Building stronger communities where everyone belongs.
Unity for Integration Project is a Scottish charity bringing people together through practical support, wellbeing, education, creativity, community research and shared opportunity.
From Grassroots Action to Community-Led Change
Unity for Integration Project began in Glasgow in 2013 with a simple but powerful belief: everyone deserves to feel welcomed, valued and connected.
Our journey started at grassroots level, responding to the experiences and everyday challenges of refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and families building new lives in Glasgow. What began through community connection and practical support developed into a growing commitment to creating spaces where people could belong, participate and contribute.
In 2015, Unity for Integration Project became a registered Scottish charity, marking an important step in our development while keeping our grassroots and community-led approach at the heart of everything we do.
Since then, UFIP has grown into a vibrant community organisation delivering practical support, family programmes, women’s wellbeing initiatives, children and youth activities, skills development, community research, creative projects and cultural activities across Glasgow.
Our work has also evolved beyond delivering programmes. We create opportunities for people to volunteer, develop skills, take responsibility and grow into leadership. Through training, mentoring, community research and practical experience, we help strengthen the capacity of migrant and diverse communities to contribute, organise and shape the issues that affect their lives.
Today, Unity Hub Glasgow gives this work a permanent home – a welcoming community space where people can meet, learn, create, volunteer, organise, build relationships and develop ideas together.
We believe integration is not simply about accessing services. It is about belonging, having a voice and having meaningful opportunities to participate, contribute, lead and influence the communities in which we live.
Communities become stronger when everyone has the opportunity to belong, contribute and lead.
At UFIP, we do more than deliver services. We create spaces where people build confidence, celebrate culture, develop skills, form meaningful relationships and shape the future of their communities together.
Our Mission, Vision and Purpose
These commitments guide how we work alongside communities — creating opportunities not only to receive support, but to participate, contribute, lead and influence change.
Our Mission
To strengthen integration, wellbeing and opportunity by creating inclusive spaces where migrants, refugees, families and diverse communities can connect, develop skills, build confidence, exercise their voice and grow into leadership.
Our Vision
A Scotland where people of every background can belong, participate and thrive, and where migrant and diverse communities have the voice, opportunities and power to help shape the communities and decisions that affect their lives.
Our Purpose
To turn belonging into opportunity and participation into community power through practical support, wellbeing, learning, creativity, research, volunteering and community-led action.
What Makes UFIP Different
UFIP combines grassroots trust with practical opportunities for people to develop skills, build leadership, shape programmes and strengthen their own communities. We do not see people simply as beneficiaries; we create pathways for participation, contribution and influence.
Lived-Experience Leadership
People with direct experience of migration, inequality and community barriers help shape our priorities, programmes and decisions. Their knowledge is valued as expertise and helps keep our work rooted in real community experience.
From Participation to Leadership
We create pathways for people to move from taking part in activities to volunteering, developing practical skills, taking responsibility, facilitating programmes and growing into leadership.
Community Infrastructure
Unity Hub Glasgow gives communities a permanent place to meet, learn, organise, volunteer, create, build relationships and develop ideas together. It is a home for community-led activity, not simply a venue.
Racial Justice, Voice & Representation
We create opportunities for migrant and racialised communities to be heard, represented and involved in shaping the programmes, conversations and decisions that affect their lives.
Culture & Creativity as Strengths
Food, film, photography, storytelling, heritage and cultural expression are not extras to our work. They are powerful tools for confidence, learning, connection, identity and belonging.
Community-Led Learning & Research
We value lived experience as knowledge and work with communities, researchers and partners to generate learning that can improve practice, deepen understanding and influence how community issues are approached.
The Unity Hub is more than a building. It is a home for community-led change.
Unity Hub Glasgow gives UFIP and the communities we work alongside something vital: a permanent place to meet, learn, organise, create, volunteer, build relationships and develop ideas together.
It is where practical support sits alongside skills development, wellbeing, cultural expression, research and leadership building. People can arrive as participants and, over time, gain experience, contribute their knowledge, take responsibility and grow into volunteering and leadership roles.
The Hub also creates space for community organisations, researchers, volunteers and partners to collaborate, share learning and develop responses to the issues affecting migrant and diverse communities.
Through the Hub, we are not simply delivering activities. We are building the physical and social infrastructure communities need to connect, strengthen their capacity and create change together.
- Community programmes and practical support
- Volunteer training and leadership development
- Creative media, storytelling and cultural activity
- Community-led research and shared learning
- Meetings, organising and partnership working
- Children, family and wellbeing activities
The Hub includes a large community hall, meeting and activity rooms, a commercial kitchen, stage and audio equipment. When appropriate, the space is also available for community events, workshops, celebrations and private bookings.
Creating pathways to belong, develop, contribute and lead
UFIP brings together practical support, wellbeing, creativity, skills, leadership development, research and community connection to help people move from participation towards greater confidence, contribution and influence.
Community Support & Integration
Practical, culturally informed support that helps people navigate systems, overcome barriers, build confidence and participate more fully in community life.
Children, Young People & Families
Holiday programmes, food, creative learning, family activities and safe opportunities that support children, young people and families to connect, participate and thrive.
Wellbeing & Connection
Inclusive activities that strengthen physical and emotional wellbeing, reduce isolation, build confidence and create supportive relationships and a stronger sense of belonging.
Skills, Volunteering & Leadership
Training, mentoring and practical opportunities that help people develop skills, volunteer, take responsibility and progress into leadership and community action.
Arts, Culture & Storytelling
Film, photography, food, heritage, cultural events and storytelling that celebrate identity, develop creativity and create opportunities for people to express their experiences and perspectives.
Research, Voice & Influence
Community-led research, lived-experience knowledge and collaboration that enable communities to contribute to learning, shape conversations and influence the issues and decisions affecting their lives.
From Grassroots Action to Community-Led Change
What began as grassroots community action in 2013 has developed into a growing community organisation strengthening belonging, skills, leadership, voice and opportunity across Glasgow.
Our Beginning
UFIP was established in Glasgow through grassroots community action, creating practical support, connection and opportunities for people facing barriers to participation.
Becoming a Registered Charity
UFIP became a registered Scottish charity, strengthening the organisation’s foundation while maintaining its grassroots, community-led approach.
People Reached
People have connected with UFIP through programmes, events, practical support, cultural activities, research and community engagement.
Volunteers Developed
Volunteers have gained skills, mentoring, practical experience and opportunities to contribute meaningfully across UFIP’s programmes and community activities.
Community Leaders Developed
People have progressed into greater responsibility, facilitation, organising, representation and leadership within UFIP and their communities.
Community Infrastructure
A permanent Glasgow base where communities can meet, learn, organise, volunteer, create, research, build relationships and develop leadership.
From Grassroots Action to Community Infrastructure
UFIP’s journey is one of grassroots action becoming long-term community capacity — growing from practical support and connection into an organisation that builds skills, leadership, voice, knowledge and community infrastructure.
UFIP Begins in Glasgow
Unity for Integration Project begins through grassroots community action focused on belonging, integration, practical support and creating opportunities for people facing barriers to participation.
Dignity, Celebration & Belonging
UFIP delivers its first Red Carpet Christmas Dinner, creating a celebration centred on dignity, joy, visibility, cultural pride and connection for families experiencing isolation during the festive period.
Becoming a Registered Scottish Charity
UFIP becomes a registered Scottish charity, strengthening its organisational foundation while preserving its grassroots, community-led approach. Community Giants also develops as a way of recognising volunteers, local changemakers and community leadership.
Expanding Voice, Skills & Participation
UFIP expands its work around advocacy, employability, digital participation, women’s leadership, rights, housing and access to services, while creating more opportunities for people to build confidence and take part in community life.
Staying Connected Through Crisis
During the pandemic, UFIP adapts its approach through food support, digital inclusion, smaller-group activities and wellbeing support, helping people remain connected during a period of disruption and isolation.
Building Capacity & Leadership
UFIP expands structured programmes across skills, wellbeing, integration, creativity and community participation. Volunteer development becomes increasingly important, creating pathways for people to gain experience, take responsibility and grow towards facilitation and leadership.
Unity Hub: A Home for Community-Led Change
UFIP establishes permanent community infrastructure in Glasgow. Unity Hub creates space for people to meet, learn, organise, volunteer, create, research, build relationships, develop leadership and strengthen community-led action.
Leadership Rooted in Lived Experience
UFIP is governed by a 100% Black and Minority Ethnic Board of Trustees, bringing lived experience, cultural knowledge and community understanding into the organisation’s governance, strategy and decision-making.
But community leadership at UFIP extends beyond our Board. Participants, volunteers and community members contribute ideas, knowledge and experience that help shape programmes, identify priorities and influence how our work develops.
We also deliberately create pathways into leadership. Through volunteering, mentoring, training and practical responsibility, people can develop skills, facilitate activities, contribute to projects and grow into roles where they can lead and support others.
This matters particularly for migrant and racialised communities whose knowledge and perspectives can be underrepresented in institutions and decision-making spaces. We want people not only to participate in community life, but to have the confidence, skills and opportunities to help shape it.
“People should not only have a place in the community. They should have a voice in shaping it.”
Building the infrastructure for communities to belong, lead and shape change.
UFIP’s next chapter is about deepening what we have built: strengthening the Unity Hub as a lasting community resource, expanding opportunities for children, families and adults, and creating more pathways into skills, volunteering, leadership and community action.
We want more people from migrant and diverse communities to have the confidence, knowledge, relationships and opportunities to participate in the decisions and conversations that affect their lives. This means continuing to invest in lived-experience leadership, community voice, racial justice and opportunities for people to move from participation into greater responsibility and influence.
We also want Unity Hub Glasgow to grow as a centre for community-led learning, research, creativity and collaboration — a place where residents, volunteers, community organisations, researchers and partners can come together to share knowledge, develop ideas and create practical responses to community priorities.
As UFIP grows, we will remain rooted in what has guided us from the beginning: listening, building trusted relationships, valuing lived experience and creating opportunities for people not only to belong, but to contribute, lead and help shape what comes next.
Belonging should open the door to possibility, voice and leadership
“When people feel seen, supported and valued, something changes. Confidence grows, possibilities open and people begin to recognise the power of what they can contribute.”
UFIP began with a simple belief: people should never be defined only by the challenges they face. Every person who walks through our doors brings knowledge, experience, culture, talent and potential. Sometimes what is needed is simply the right space, encouragement and opportunity for those strengths to emerge.
Over the years, I have seen people arrive looking for connection or support and go on to volunteer, develop new skills, take responsibility, support others and discover confidence in their own ability to lead. That journey is at the heart of what UFIP means to me.
Our responsibility is not to speak for communities, but to help create the conditions in which people can speak for themselves, develop their ideas, use their experience and take their place in shaping the communities they are part of.
As UFIP enters its next chapter, my hope is that Unity Hub will continue to be a place where people find belonging, but also a place from which new ideas, new opportunities and new community leaders can emerge.
Nkechi First
Founder and Chairperson, UFIP
There is a place for you in what we are building.
Whether you are looking for support or connection, want to join a programme, share your skills, volunteer, develop as a community leader or explore a partnership, UFIP offers different ways to participate, contribute and help shape what comes next.
Our next chapter will be built with the people and communities around us. Come through our doors, bring your ideas and discover how you can be part of it.
Unity Hub Glasgow · 159 Broad Street, Glasgow