Volunteering at The Welcoming

Our volunteers support English classes, friendship groups, health and wellbeing activities, sustainability activities, and events.

Volunteers and participants walking together in a park as part of a community wellbeing activity.
Volunteer assisting a participant during an English language class at The Welcoming in Edinburgh.
A group of people gardening and planting seeds at an allotment site.

Board Members

Role: Management Board (Voluntary / Unpaid)
Location: On site – Edinburgh
Closing date: 29 May 2026

Role

The Welcoming Association is a charity dedicated to supporting New Scots (asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants) in Edinburgh to build positive, integrated lives.

We are seeking new Board Members to help guide and deliver our vision of a more welcoming, diverse, and inclusive city. Our current Board and staff team are deeply committed, passionate, and bring a wide range of lived and professional experiences. We are excited to expand this collective strength by welcoming several new Trustees.

We are particularly keen to hear from individuals who can complement our existing Board with some of the skills and experience set out in the role description. We warmly encourage applications from people with lived experience of migration, as well as those from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

Why join us?

This is an opportunity to:

• Make a meaningful impact on the lives of New Scots in Edinburgh.

• Contribute to an organisation at the heart of community integration.

• Work alongside a committed and values-driven Board and staff team.

• Help shape strategy and influence change at both local and national levels.

Application notes

Further information is provided in the attached role description.

Please feel free to contact Tesfu Gessesse, CEO, if you would like to find out more about the role: [email protected]

Please send your CV and a covering letter to: Keith Watson, Chair of The Welcoming Association, [email protected]

Closing date: 29 May 2026

Downloads

Role Description

Do you want to support our work?

There are many meaningful ways you can support our work and help us create a more welcoming Scotland for New Scots.

You can support The Welcoming by making a donation, partnering with us through fundraising or in-kind support, or by sharing our story to help raise awareness.

Have a question about volunteering?

To find out more about other types of volunteering, please contact [email protected]

Sign up to our quarterly newsletter for volunteering updates.

General information for volunteers

ESOL Volunteer at The Welcoming
A group of refugees, migrants and volunteers standing in a park in Edinburgh.
Refugee Festival Scotland Event - a group of three volunteers standing and smiling at the tea station.

Volunteering opportunities with our partners

We work with a range of organisations across Edinburgh and Scotland. Sometimes, our partners have volunteering opportunities that are relevant to our volunteers. When these opportunities become available, they will be listed below.