No products in the basket.
Programmes are developed and delivered by Hibernian Community Foundation to support mental health and the psychosocial wellbeing of forcibly displaced Ukrainians living in Scotland.
The work responds to the impact of trauma, forced migration, and social isolation and is grounded in trauma-informed, community-based, and relational approaches. While based in Edinburgh, the programmes reach participants from across Scotland.
Programme Lead
All programmes are developed and facilitated by Vitaliia Melnyk, Hibernian Community Foundation Development Officer. Vitaliia is a certified Gestalt therapist and trauma-informed practitioner. Her work is informed by both professional expertise and the lived experience of forced migration.
1. Women’s Circle: Wellbeing Group for Ukrainian Women in Edinburgh
Women’s Circle is a community wellbeing group for Ukrainian women, offering a safe and supportive space for connection, reflection, and mutual support.
The group is held in Ukrainian and focuses on creating a sense of trust and belonging. Through guided group conversations, coaching, and gentle art-therapeutic exercises, participants share experiences, explore emotional states, and reconnect with themselves and others.
A core value of the group is addressing social isolation and creating a space for healing, supporting emotional resilience and wellbeing during adaptation and resettlement.
2. Teen LAB – Adolescent Wellbeing & Communication Group
Teen LAB is a wellbeing and personal development group for Ukrainian adolescents.
The group provides a safe, age-appropriate environment where young people explore self-awareness, emotions, needs, and personal boundaries through interactive games, group discussion, and structured tasks.
Key areas include: recognising emotions and needs, understanding personal boundaries, developing healthy communication, recognising manipulation, aggression, and unsafe behaviour, and learning constructive ways to respond to conflict.
Teen LAB supports confidence, emotional literacy, and peer connection, reducing isolation in the context of migration.
3. Art Wellbeing Group: “Creative Miracles”
Creative Miracles is a creative wellbeing group focusing on self-expression, relaxation, and connection through art.
Together with a professional artist, participants explore creativity through painting in different styles and themes, working on canvas, and decorating textiles such as T-shirts.
No prior artistic experience is required.
The group creates a relaxed atmosphere that supports emotional release, enjoyment of creativity, and social connection.
4. Therapeutic Gestalt Group (Seasonal): Live Your Life
Live Your Life is a seasonal therapeutic group for forcibly displaced Ukrainians, grounded in a Gestalt-oriented and trauma-informed approach.
The group addresses experiences of trauma, forced migration, and prolonged isolation, offering a reflective space to explore life as it is now — shaped by loss, change, and adaptation.
Participants are supported to:
- Explore the impact of trauma and migration
- Work gently with isolation and disconnection
- Increase emotional and bodily awareness
- Strengthen coping capacity and inner resources
- Identify what is possible today to improve wellbeing
- Deepen self-understanding as a basis for moving forward
The group supports restoring presence, agency, and connection; recognising that healing often begins with not being alone with one’s experience.
5. Live Your Life – Community Wellbeing Festival
Live Your Life is a seasonal community wellbeing festival for the Ukrainian community.
The festival brings together mental health professionals and community practitioners, each offering interactive workshops. These workshops form a shared healing space focus on connection, reflection, and mutual support.
Participants described the most recent festival as warm, healing, and deeply supportive; highlighting the value of community, professional care, and shared presence.
6. Community Celbrations & Seasonal Event
In collaboration with partner volunteer and community organisations in Edinburgh, Hibernian Community Foundation hosts community celebrations and seasonal events for the Ukrainian community.
These events bring together large numbers of community members to celebrate important cultural and international dates; supporting belonging, continuity, and emotional wellbeing in the context of forced migration.
Community celebrations include but are not limited to: St Valentine’s Day, Pancake day (Maslyana), St Nicholas Day, and International Children’s Day
These events strengthen community bonds, reduce isolation, and complement therapeutic work through joy, shared experience, and cultural connection.
