University of Edinburgh: progress against 2023 pledge
/In this progress update, the University of Edinburgh describes how it has made a difference to people and communities through its 2023 Social Impact Pledge, which made commitments to support New Scots, provide vetinary services for homeless people and provide space for community engagement projects.
The Social Impact Pledge asks public sector organisations across Scotland to commit to increasing their social impact by making up to three simple changes to their current operations or policies.
You can read more about the Social Impact Pledge here, and see the University of Edinburgh’s 2023 pledge here.
1st commitment: We will build on our renewed University of Sanctuary status by extending additional support to New Scots.
Since this commitment was made, local charity The Welcoming has been using University rooms for free on an ongoing basis to teach English language to refugees and those seeking sanctuary. At the time the Pledge was made, this initiative was in its pilot test stage. It has now been possible to provide space on an ongoing basis for more than 2 years (see https://global.ed.ac.uk/stories/welcoming-refugees-community-access-to-rooms), with The Welcoming’s classes taking place several times per week.
The University’s Education Beyond Borders programme was launched in January 2024. The scheme provides funding to postgraduate students and academic staff displaced to the UK. In the 24/25 academic year, twenty-one recipients of Edinburgh Beyond Borders Postgraduate Scholarships started their studies. The University has partnered with the Bseisu Foundation, HESPAL and others to provide six scholarships to Palestinian students. In partnership with Refugee Education UK, the University is supporting two South Sudanese students who started studies in September 2025. Education Beyond Borders students are provided with holistic, tailored one-to-one personal, academic and social support.
Separately, in September 2024, the University’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) launched a new Fellowship aimed at artists and creative practitioners of Palestinian heritage. Supported by a private donor, the Artist at Risk Fellowship 2025 has supported an artist to spend a period of two months as a Visiting Fellow at the Institute.
Community support is also offered through staff and student-led programmes. In 2024, one such student-led programme, Student Actions for Refugees, worked closely with charities The Welcoming and Re-act to make up and deliver welcome packs of basic goods and everyday household items to refugees here in Edinburgh. The Syrian Teenagers Tutoring and Education Programme support New Scots teenagers with homework. Support is also available for the children of Council for At-Risk Academic Fellows at high school level.
The University’s Centre for Open Learning has also been offering free English courses for displaced people. It has developed the English for University Study course which is specifically designed for Displaced People, i.e., New Scots. The Centre has also continued its General English classes for local communities and within those there are free places for New Scots. The Centre communicates regularly with the Edinburgh ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Forum to provide joined-up community provision and has offered six pre-sessional English Language Scholarships to support Education Beyond Borders scholars. A colleague has delivered training to the Scottish Government about English Language provision for New Scots and has evaluated the General English for Displaced People course offer, following up with trauma-informed teacher training sessions with the staff involved in those courses.
As part of Scottish Refugee Week, with the support of the Scottish Refugee Council and the University’s Edinburgh Global, Centre for Open Learning colleagues hosted an event in support of refugees called "Connected communities" in June 2024. They opened the courtyard of the University’s Holyrood campus to members of the public and showcased music and food from diverse cultures.
2nd commitment: We will open Dick Vet in the Community, providing accessible veterinary support to the pets of homeless people.
During 2023, staff from the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies worked with colleagues in the University’s Community Team to establish the new Dick Vet in the Community premises. The premises at 127 Nicolson Street in Edinburgh, a former private vet practice, are on a main public street in Edinburgh and are leased by the University. The building was officially opened in October 2023.
This new physical space gives a constant bases for the All4Paws project, an initiative which provides free veterinary care to the pets of people who are homeless or vulnerably housed. The project had been running for some years but on a roaming model, operating out of various city hostels. A fixed base not only helped with logistics but helps service users to know where they could routinely go for assistance – valuable for a community that can be digitally excluded.
Developments at the space since we made the Pledge have included new signage, installation of internet, improvements to storage and kitting out of the kitchen space. In 2023, there was an upswing in use of Dick Vet in the Community due to the changing economic situation of the country.
During this year, there were around 12 public volunteers, such as local vets and nurses, and 12 student committee volunteers, plus more student volunteers who were not on the committee. Since we made our pledge, there has been much more interest from public volunteers.
As of 2025, clinics are running every Monday evening and one Saturday lunchtime per month, plus occasional Wednesdays and other dates, at 127 Nicolson Street.
3rd commitment: We will offer space to a range of community engagement projects from our new community-facing location at 127 Nicholson Street, Edinburgh
The space in which All4Paws is based also offers flexible accommodation for small-group drop-in activities aimed at local residents and communities. Regular users of the space include a Gaelic conversation group, hosted by the University in collaboration with the City of Edinburgh Council. University researchers with community-facing projects have also been using the space to recruit and meet community members in an easily accessible and comfortable environment. Projects which have used the space to date include a study into homelessness and sociolinguistic variation and research on air pollution exposure to Edinburgh residents.:
