Look to See - a Refugee Week exhibition by young people

18th June 2025

As part of the Highland Council's celebration of Refugee Week - 16 to 22 June - we are delighted to announce that a sharing of photographs, taken by separated young people seeking asylum living within the Highlands, is to be shown at Eden Court Arts Centre, Inverness.

Look to See, which ties in with the theme for this year’s Refugee Week - Community as a Superpower - emerges out of a collaboration between multiple agencies working alongside separated young people seeking asylum, embodying the importance of community and connection, when looking to support all young people in the Highlands.

In spring of this year, eight young people known to the Comraich service, a partnership service set up to support separated young people seeking asylum in the Highlands, including Aberlour Children’s Charity, Banardos Scotland, Gateway, Right There, as well as the Highland Council, were invited by charity Trees for Life to take part in one of their Rewild and Recover residentials at their Dundreggan Estate in Glenmoriston.

Liv Glatt, Rewild and Recover Programme Facilitator, said: "The Rewild and Recover program is all about bringing people, who wouldn't normally have the opportunity due to societal barriers, to come and experience our rewilding work for themselves. We roll our sleeves up and put our hands in the soil, we live in community and we nurture nature, and hopefully we experience nurture from nature in return.

"Surrounded by the beauty of Glenmoriston, and the restoration of the original Caledonian forests of the Highlands, this was an opportunity for these young people to connect with the land, culture and nature of the Highlands - perhaps offering meaning to where they currently find themselves, so many thousands of miles from their original homelands."

Liz Nolan, Director of Children and Families at Aberlour Children’s Charity, said: “This type of opportunity gives these children the space to step away from the complex and difficult asylum process, to have fun, enjoy nature, be safe, and most importantly be children again."

Look to See has been funded by the Highland Health Board Endowment Funds charity (SC016791), with nearly £5000 awarded to the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) to undertake an evaluation of this residential opportunity. Feedback will be gathered about their experience of a Rewild and Recover week at the Dundreggan Estate, and whether this might be something other young people might enjoy and connect with in the future.

As English is not the first language for many of the young people, the team were keen to avoid just using questionnaires or feedback forms, instead they have gathered some of this feedback and evaluation through more creative media. With the recruitment of local freelance artist and regular Trees for Life volunteer Jane Frere, it was possible to support the young people to capture a photographic story, or map, of their time at Dundreggan.

Jane Frere said: “The resulting photographs, using various perspectives, angles, close up studies as well as a focus on colour and textures, captured what is at the essence of so many of the joyous and moving Dundreggan Rewilding Experiences.

“The resulting exhibition - co-designed with the young people - offers the public a rare and intimate window into the personal impact of this nature-based journey. It invites viewers to consider not only the stories of those seeking sanctuary, but also the potential of green spaces and creative expression to nurture resilience, hope, and connection.”

This project also forms part of a broader evaluation to better understand the long-term value of nature-based and creative interventions for mental health and social inclusion. By choosing visual storytelling over written assessments, it removes language and cultural barriers, allowing for more authentic engagement and insight.

Dr Nick Barnes, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with NHS Highland CAMHS and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, said: “We are increasingly recognising the powerful role that nature and creativity can play in supporting young people’s mental health.

“Projects like Rewild and Recover are hugely important as they offer more than just a break from the routine - they create space for healing, identity, and connection. This exhibition is not only a testament to the strength of the young people involved, but also a compelling example of what’s possible when therapeutic practice is grounded in community, nature and co-creation.”