Meet Georgie

SDV’s new Volunteer Coordinator, Georgie Cottle, introduces herself and shares some of her first impressions of Dungavel

I’m Georgie, the newest member of the Scottish Detainee Visitors team. I have just started as the Volunteer Coordinator; this is my first position working directly with people in detention in Scotland. I am keen to learn and understand more about what it means to be in detention and to be part of an organisation who are supporting people at Dungavel.  

I have worked with refugee and asylum seeker communities for about 6 years, it was all kick-started by spending a year in Jordan studying Arabic. I was involved in a few different projects in Jordan, volunteering as an ESOL teacher and leading sports programmes for refugee children in camps outside Amman. Living, volunteering and studying with people who have been directly affected by the refugee crisis incentivised me to work with asylum seeker and vulnerable migrant communities in Scotland.

In the last two years I have worked with people in the asylum system, from emergency accommodation services, to ESOL teaching and as a volunteer bike mechanic. I have had an insight into how detention impacts on people’s lives, from those who have gone into detention, to those without immigration status who fear being detained and deported. Now working with SDV, I have an insight into how the system works and who it affects the most.

My impression of Dungavel, before visiting in person, was of a remote, desolate place forgotten and tucked away somewhere amongst the hills south of Glasgow. This week, I visited for the first time in person and it seems my imagination wasn’t too far off. The Google images of Dungavel do the building justice, I am sure it used to be quite grandiose as a hunting lodge once upon a time, but now it has a strange dystopian feel to the place. The fence that skirts the grounds reminded me a bit of the Wall of Occupation in Palestine; the CCTV-clad entrance gate and the curls of barbed wire lining the top of the fence don’t seem to match the aesthetic of the grounds and house behind it.On entering the building itself and meeting the staff, who were all really friendly and helpful, the place seemed far less ‘prison-like’. The visitors room was cosy enough, there was even a vending machine! But despite all that nothing could detract from the fact we were enclosed by a towering barbed wire fence. 

After talking to people in person at the centre, one thing has become clear; the real tortuous element of detention is the not knowing when you might be

able to get out. How out of control people are of their own destinies. Anecdotes from people in detention tell us that, in general, people are happy with the conditions; they say the food is okay and they are comfortable enough. But it is the lack of human freedoms and the psychological strain of not being able to see light at the end of indefinite detention that is the biggest struggle. I am heartened by the resilience of people who I have spoken to so far. The ability to focus on the immediate things that make daily life liveable and talking about keeping up good physical and mental health practises. I am looking forward to building a relationship with Dungavel and to ensure regular visits are back on the agenda there, after the difficulties of the pandemic.

I think my new role is going to teach me a lot and I am looking forward to what I learn.