Linthouse Housing Association
"Taking part in this project was the first time I felt that I could contribute something worthwhile"
Saida Samad
Awards for All helps to integrate a diverse Govan community through cooking and art.
In 2007, The Linthouse Housing Association and the Govan Housing Association joined forces to produce a multi-cultural recipe book reflecting Govan’s diverse and growing community. The project received £9,910 from Awards for All to help bring together refugees, asylum seekers and indigenous Scots from the Govan area of Glasgow to share and submit recipes from around the world.
Awards for All enabled the group to run workshops to discuss and try different recipes. The contributors then took part in art workshops such as sketching and painting and their artwork was used to illustrate the book.
Angela Gardiner, Community Inclusion Coordinator, Govan Housing Association, said: “Those refugees and asylum seekers that I spoke to loved to cook, were very good at it and wanted to share part of their culture with each other and with the indigenous community.”
“This project was a great way to integrate the community and it certainly worked. New friendships have developed within the community, myths have been dispelled and we feel that the project has gone some way to counter existing tensions. Many of the recipes were submitted by refugees who have come to Scotland to rebuild their lives after fleeing violence and persecution and we wanted these people to have the chance to feel part of the community.”
Saida Samad a refugee from Afghanistan who submitted her own recipe, added: “Taking part in this project was the first time I felt that I could contribute something worthwhile. It was an amazing feeling to see our recipes and photos published in the form of a book. It gave us the opportunity to express and show traditional recipes from foreign countries and was a fun way to improve my English.”
