At Iconic Resourcing, we believe in making a positive impact in our community and contributing to causes we care about. Recently, some of our team took a day out to volunteer with a local charity, Refuweegee, and it was a truly eye-opening experience. Refuweegee was set up by Selina Hales in December 2015 with the aim of providing a warm welcome to forcibly displaced people arriving in Glasgow. The charity has since provided over 10,000 community-built, personal welcome packs and emergency support packs to people all over Glasgow and across Scotland. As a company, we were drawn to Refuweegee’s commitment to creating a welcoming environment for refugees and their dedication to ensuring that everyone who wishes to get involved has an opportunity to do so.
During our time volunteering with Refuweegee, we had the opportunity to get involved in a variety of activities. Emma Shahnavaz helped to test donated tech equipment, such as laptops and phones, in preparation for a morning CV writing workshop. This equipment would allow service users to have access to a computer to type and print off their CVs. Emma also helped to sort through donations in the stock room and replenished some of the donations for male and female sanitary packs. Ross Grimes, another member of our team at Iconic, shared that our donations were used in food packs that were gone within 45 minutes. It was humbling to see just how much of an impact our contributions could make in such a short amount of time. Fiona Longmuir, a mother on our team, found it particularly heartbreaking to watch an urgent care pack being prepared for a mother and her baby, and she left feeling even more committed to supporting Refuweegee’s efforts in any way possible.
Cora Wong found her time volunteering at Refuweegee to be incredibly rewarding. She and other volunteers were able to make a meaningful impact by making up toiletry and basic food packs for refugees in the community. They also assisted in sorting out and organising donated clothes to ensure they could be easily accessible for those in need. Cora found it humbling to see just how much these simple items could help someone in need. Rachel Hart echoed these sentiments and shared that the experience was humbling and put a lot into perspective. She found it inspiring to see the amazing work that Refuweegee is doing for those who have come to Glasgow and was impressed by the size and scale of the operation they are running. Rachel left feeling grateful to have worked with Refuweegee and eager to continue supporting them in the future.
As a company, we are committed to making a positive impact in our community, and we are proud to offer our team members two additional days per annum to volunteer for a cause of their choice. Our aim is to donate at least 200 hours across the year to volunteering to good causes. We work with multiple organisations around Scotland, from our partners who distribute welcome packs through to schools and community organisations looking to do something similar in their area.
We believe that volunteering is a powerful way to make a difference and create positive change in our communities. Our experience with Refuweegee was a humbling reminder of the importance of giving back, and we look forward to continuing to support their efforts in any way we can. If you’re interested in getting involved with Refuweegee or any other local charities, we encourage you to reach out and find out how you can make a difference too.