Refugee Festival Scotland 2026
Community trip to Tentsmuir Nature Reserve, organised and led by How It Felt, RSPB Scotland and Nature Scot.
Our annual trip to Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve as part of Refugee Festival Scotland 2026 was a huge success!
How It Felt worked with RSPB Scotland and NatureScot to organise a trip for refugees and asylum seekers living in Dundee, and it was such a brilliant day!
New Scot community members traveled by coach with the How It Felt and RSPB team to join Nature Scot Rangers on site at Tentsmuir. Thank you to our rangers for the day; Ian, Maisie, Julie and Annabelle for looking after us.
The group explored the nature reserve and learnt about the species of animal, insects and bird that can be found there. We enjoyed guided walks around the reserve's woodland paths, beach and sand dunes with RSPB, Nature Scot and How It Felt. We collected shells and spotted seals basking on the shoreline, and were also visited by local cows grazing! 🐄🦭
Participants enjoyed a delicious, healthy lunch made by Sook Kitchen. Everyone was full of praise for how fresh and tasty the food was. Thank you again to the Sook team for supporting our trip.
After lunch the group went for walks, kids played, and we found bugs, butterflies and even a frog! Each participant was gifted a creative nature pack from How It Felt, each including a colouring in booklet, coloured pencils, crayons, a mini notebook and more. Encouraging participants of all ages to take part in activities that promote mindfulness and creativity.
It was a brilliant day filled with nature, friendship and connection! 💛
Thank you to everyone who came along, we had the best day with you all.
Thanks again Nature Scot for their support on the day and for organising the minibus to ensure the trip was accessible, and a huge thank you to Hope from RSPB Scotland for supporting this partnership and trip each year!
Huge thanks to Scottish Refugee Council and Refugee Festival Scotland for funding this project and allowing us to provide these opportunities for free ☺️🌱
Project Gallery
What Participants Say
“It was a nice trip with very friendly people. Thank you so much for this day”
— Ukrainian mother and son
“For me and my four kids today was like a beautiful dream, thank you all for your wonderful work.”
— Family of 5
“It was a great day, we had so much fun!”
— Kids
“Thank you very much for the educational and interesting excursion”
— Participant
“I’ve only been in Dundee for 2 months. I’ve been at school for 1 week...I like how quiet it is here. It’s peaceful. It’s a really nice experience”
— Participant, new arrival from Sudan
"That has been wonderful"
— Participant