Living in Scotland

[Bluebirdhumming]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me much about their experiences of moving/living in Scotland, please? I know of a few families (relatives of friends) who have moved to various parts (can't remember which) to join a spouse.

Wondering about transition to education system for my primary aged DC, racism, quality/standard of living etc. I would be moving for better career prospects. Currently, living in the North West and have had many many experiences of racism which (along with better career prospects) have started to plant the idea in my head.

Any information from a black family's perspective would be extremely useful.
Thank you

I did as a single person and loved it to be honest. I lived in Central Scotland in a nice village. Two racist incidents in 5 years, but they were from non-British people telling me to go back to where I came from (ironic as I'm British).

I'm not sure of the experience with children but I did have a friend who grew up in Scotland and loves it. Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as all the university towns are more diverse. Huge Black community in Edinburgh. People were very friendly. Only moved back down south for work opportunities but would gladly go back.

@Benelovencd that's really useful, thanks! I'd forgotten to factor in that places with universities would have a more diverse population too. Thank you

Yes the university towns are lovely and friendly and so affordable- although you will definitely need a car as public transport was my biggest outgoing.

Even Falkirk and Aberdeen are quite diverse because of the oil industry and refinery. Stirling is a lovely university town and great for commuting to either Glasgow or Edinburgh. Edinburgh is lovely and cosmopolitan but definitely more expensive. Even Dunfermline is quite nice and lived there with more diversity than I expected and very friendly.

I can't vouch for children and raising them there (but the Black adults I know who were raised there didn't have anything negative to say really). I can't really speak to the school experience. I'd say finding a job (retail, care work, fast food etc) in the smaller towns was a lot more difficult in comparison but also may be due to fewer jobs and people staying longer in their jobs. I worked for a black owned company most of my time there and the Amazon fulfilment centre in Dunfermline for a bit.

It was an overall positive experience.

@benelovencd that's definitely a good starting point for me, thank you!

I'm in a much better position now that I have names/places to play with.

Hi,
I’m not black but want to welcome you to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
You’ll love it here .

My friend is black , she came north from Leeds 15 years ago and swears that she would never go back .
Feels she was made extremely welcome and her children had a great school experience (Glasgow) .
It wasn’t the same in Leeds - just her opinion of course .

Good luck with whatever you decide .

@babbi do you mind sharing where in Scotland you live? Or the places you feel would be receptive to help OP

@Benelovencd
Yes of course . Glasgow - Lenzie and West End - Dowanhill .

My tiny wee Ayrshire village has a black family (I know!) and they’ve lived here happily for years with no bother at all.
I definitely think (maybe naively so) that Scots are far more tolerant than other places.

I spent time in Dundee and found it v tough in terms of racism.

@YouAintKingDingALing

I’m so very sad to hear that and disgusted to be honest .
I don’t know what to say other than I’m thoroughly ashamed of any of my fellow Scots who behaved like that .

Scotland is very diverse in the cities. Small towns tend to be less so. I am not black, but there is a lot of diversity in Edinburgh and Glasgow in particular . You won’t have a problem.

@babbi thank you. I've spent a lot of time in Scotland (all over) and mainly loved it. The experiences in Dundee were a surprise. Wherever you go there will always be some ignorant people but I still love Scotland.