According to the Consul of Ukraine in Scotland, Andriy Madzianovsky, as of April 2026, 29,781 Ukrainians live in Scotland, the vast majority of whom arrived in northern Great Britain after the start of the full-scale war. A significant portion came through the Super Sponsorship program, which the Scottish government developed specifically for Ukrainians in spring 2022. The rest arrived on sponsorship and family visas. All Ukrainians welcomed in Scotland were issued residence permits valid for three years, later extended by 1.5 years. The next step will be another visa extension for 24 months.
Under the Super Sponsorship program, at the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the government provided Ukrainian refugees with accommodation in 3–4-star hotels (initially with three meals a day, later two), access to healthcare, education, and work opportunities. Moreover, young Ukrainians were given a unique chance to study at Scottish universities for free.
To clarify—this opportunity is only available to Scots. Other UK citizens (English, Welsh, or Northern Irish) pay tuition, and students from other countries pay much higher fees.
Ukrainians were equated with local students, and in the summers of 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, hundreds of Ukrainian students were admitted to Scottish universities in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee. Additionally, hundreds of Ukrainians joined colleges, where they learn English for free under the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program. Those not receiving state financial support under Universal Credit receive a college scholarship (£500 per month, approximately 30,000 UAH), and some receive £700–£800, partially covering housing rent.
From the start, Ukrainians received a very warm welcome from Scots. Refugees were relocated from hotels to social housing—apartments with renovations and furniture, including washing machines and even dishes and bedding. Local councils managed this process.
Ukrainians shared their experiences adapting to beautiful Scotland with Maksym Rozenko.
From Kyiv to AUGB Glasgow
17-year-old Vladyslava from Kyiv received a special New Year’s gift from her employers during the 2022 corporate celebration—she was informed that she had successfully passed her probation at Budhouse Group and would continue working as a marketing specialist.
Budhouse Group managed three shopping and entertainment centers in Ukraine—in Kharkiv, Kherson, and Cherkasy—as well as the 4-star Khortytsia Hotel in Zaporizhzhia. For the young girl, not yet 18, this was a fantastic career start. She was the youngest employee at Budhouse Group while also finishing her college studies at KROK University. However, February 24, 2022, changed the lives of millions of Ukrainians, and Vladyslava was no exception.
In spring 2022, she applied with her large family for Scotland’s Super Sponsorship program but arrived in Alba (the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland) only a year later. Her English needed improvement, so she enrolled in an ESOL Advanced course at West Scotland College. In 2024, Vladyslava was admitted to the University of Strathclyde, where she has now completed her second year. In May 2025, she joined AUGB (Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain) Glasgow. Vladyslava shared in her own words:
I joined AUGB Glasgow as an events and social media coordinator. We implement initiatives aimed at integrating and socializing Ukrainians in Glasgow, organizing weekly, cultural, and educational activities.
Among regular activities, we run a sewing club, a women’s mental support group, a board games club, and English lessons. Especially popular is the English class for the elderly (the oldest participant is 88), as older people are particularly vulnerable: learning a new language and adapting to a new environment is harder for them. Despite this, they regularly attend classes, as for many it is their only chance to socialize in a new country.
We pay special attention to children, organizing art classes and Ukrainian language lessons. Many children who moved to Scotland at a young age already speak better English than Ukrainian, so we work to maintain their connection to their culture and language. We also created and support a Ukrainian futsal team participating in the Scottish futsal league.
In addition to regular activities, we organize lectures, themed holiday events, and large-scale cultural events. The largest is Ukraine’s Independence Day celebration, which for the fourth year in a row gathers hundreds of Ukrainians and locals in central Glasgow. Preparation takes 3–4 months.
The program includes cultural performances and sports activities in the park, from yoga to tennis and pickleball, for adults and children. One of last year’s highlights was Ukrainian borscht: volunteers prepared 40 liters, which was consumed long before the event ended, drawing particular interest from locals.
Another notable project was collaborating with a local housing association where many Ukrainians live and a local organization created by Ukrainian tenants. Together we transformed a neglected area near a building into a community space, creating a mural with children from art classes and planting flowers. The organization is open to initiatives—anyone can propose an idea, and we help implement it.
AUGB Glasgow also organizes demonstrations in Glasgow. For the fourth anniversary of the full-scale war, I helped organize memorial events, including a demonstration, a city march, and a memorial at Glasgow Cathedral with Ukrainian artists performing. The theme was the illegal abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia. At least 400 people attended, including Scots.
This year, we plan to expand activities, including:
Creating a club for the elderly as a space for communication
Opening a library with Ukrainian books, which are currently hard to find in Scotland.
The organization operates on grants, and committee members volunteer alongside their primary work. Everyone understands how important it is for Ukrainians in Scotland to have a place to receive support and feel at home, even briefly.
Vladyslava is also a committee member of the Ukrainian student community at the University of Strathclyde, where she studies marketing. Glasgow has three such student communities, one per university, organizing socialization events for Ukrainian students and promoting Ukrainian culture.
One of the largest events was the Ukrainian evening – a charity night with music, where ticket proceeds supported Ukraine. It allowed both the Ukrainian community to gather and locals to learn about Ukrainian culture. The venue was provided free of charge for the charity event.
The committee has five members; I serve as event manager, organizing events. This volunteer work is personally meaningful, as I remember adapting to a new country when everything seemed foreign and incomprehensible. Now, I help others navigate this path more quickly.
I focus on connecting major Ukrainian organizations and student communities. Initially, student initiatives and organizations like AUGB Glasgow operated separately, despite potential collaboration. Now, I bridge these two groups, involving students in broader civic initiatives and raising awareness of AUGB Glasgow among youth.
For example, on February 24, student communities provided many volunteers for coordinating marches and demonstrations, and students performed on stage as proactive community representatives. I coordinated this process and gave a speech from my university.
We also united efforts for Ukraine’s Unity Day, organizing a “chain of unity” on a Glasgow bridge over the River Clyde, symbolically gathering Ukrainians of different ages and experiences, fostering youth collaboration with the largest Ukrainian organization in Glasgow.
Vladyslava also joins other initiatives, such as the Language Café committee, supporting foreign language learning and cultural exchange on campus.
Grant for Participation in the Refugee Festival – Life in One Suitcase Performance
Before the war, Oksana Sayapina had her own dance studio in Obukhiv, Kyiv region. She moved to Scotland with two children on a Super Sponsorship visa in summer 2022.
With a pedagogical background and 20 years in culture, Oksana began working in Edinburgh in September 2022 with support from AUGB Edinburgh. Her first children’s ensemble performance, Kvity Ukrainy, was at Christmas. She co-founded an adult professional ensemble, Flowers of Ukraine, and later TvorchiUA, a youth dance group.
Oksana collaborates with two charitable organizations, AUGB Edinburgh and Mission of Innocents, which provide space and conditions for classes, making them free for children.
In 2026, around 35 Ukrainian children aged 6–18 train with Oksana, divided into three age groups, practicing four times per week: once for acrobatics and three times for dance and choreography. The program includes classical, folk, and contemporary dance.
“Integration into another society leaves its mark; many children already think in English. Unlike adults, children integrate quickly. My work aims to help children preserve their Ukrainian roots. This is my personal goal while I am here,” Oksana says.
Kvity Ukrainy performs at charity events for Ukrainian military support and at Scottish concerts and festivals, including international ones.
Oksana conceived, scripted, and directed the emotional performance Life in One Suitcase, about Ukrainians forced to leave their country due to war. Up to 70 Ukrainian refugees participate. The performance has been shown four times in Edinburgh, first at Refugee Festival 2025, then at Fringe 2025. She received a grant from Mission of Innocents to develop and stage this performance.
Oksana plans to open and lead a Ukrainian dance school in Scotland, offering acting, choreography in multiple styles, and professional training for children.
How a Large Ukrainian Family Adapted to Life in Glasgow
Olena and Rostyslav have four children, including a son with a disability. In Ukraine, Rostyslav was a private entrepreneur working in elevator maintenance. They moved to Scotland in the summer of 2022 on a sponsorship visa. At that time, their daughter Kateryna was 18, Yaroslav 16, Anton 14, and Maksym 9.
“Our sponsors, a Scottish couple who hosted us, helped us greatly with adapting to a new country. The local church, Milton of Campsie Parish Church, also immediately invited us to become part of the community and for four years now has begun each service with the words ‘Welcome’ in Ukrainian,” says their eldest daughter Kateryna.
Rostyslav found a job almost immediately—initially washing dishes in a restaurant. A year later, he moved to a care home (a residence for people with disabilities), where he now works full-time. He plans to improve his English and have his engineering diploma officially recognized.
At the same time, Rostyslav and Olena have been studying at a college for three years in an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) course and have reached the Upper Intermediate level. Their children learned English much faster—youngest son Maksym now speaks with a noticeable Scottish accent.
Daughter Kateryna is a co-founder and president of the Ukrainian Society at Glasgow Caledonian University, where she organizes cultural events with fellow students: the annual Unissued Diplomas exhibition (about students who died in the war), folk art workshops, traditional gatherings, and participation in peaceful demonstrations in support of Ukraine.
Eighteen-year-old Anton sings and serves in a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church.
Their eldest son Yaroslav has a disability, so Olena takes care of him.
“Yaroslav has many more opportunities and prospects in Scotland,” Olena says. “Now he attends three different activities. In Ukraine, after finishing school, nothing like that was available.”
In 2024, Olena’s parents moved to Scotland. Her 75-year-old mother, Vira, is an artist who conducts art workshops. Just this week, she taught students Petrykivka painting at Glasgow Caledonian University. With the help of children attending AUGB Glasgow activities, she also created a bright mural with Ukrainian motifs on one of Glasgow’s buildings.
Her 82-year-old father, Volodymyr, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in Scotland and is receiving treatment to slow its progression. He attends a day care center three times a week.
The whole family actively participates in organizing Ukrainian events in Glasgow.
text by Maksym Rozenko