There is an amazing list of 33 organisations based in Edinburgh which will receive funding from the National Lottery Community Fund.
The awards range from £9,442 for Scottish Autistic Media, to £9,900 for bodies such as Wester Hailes Community Trust, You My Sister, and St Teresa’s Youth Club, to £98,550 for the Corstorphine Community Centre, and £120,000 for the Scotland Yard Adventure Centre.
Space@The Broomhouse Hub will receive £58,844 which will allow the organisation to provide free early evening meals on four nights to local people.
Neil Hay, CEO, said: “Space @ The Broomhouse Hub is literally and metaphorically at the heart of our community. Our events allow us to listen to local people and shape future support locally. We pride ourselves on being dynamic and innovative, so it is refreshing that funders like The National Lottery are supporting our work helping people through the cost-of-living crisis.”
There is an award of £9,953 for the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain Edinburgh Branch (AUGB) to provide regular community meals and drop in sessions.
Hannah Beaton-Hawryluk, AUGB Edinburgh Chairperson, said: “Over the last year, as an organisation we’ve had to work through a great deal of change. Prior to the start of the war in February 2022, our main activity was to provide social and cultural activities for a small community however since February we’ve welcomed over 6,000 Ukrainians to Edinburgh who have been displaced by the war with Russia.
“As a community, we’ve focussed our energies on providing a range of social and integration activities such as coffee mornings, information sessions, English language lessons and cultural events. The support of The National Lottery Community Fund will enable us to further support our community to integrate into communities across Edinburgh, reduce social isolation and decrease longer term mental health issues that may be experienced.”
| Name | Amount | Purpose |
| Aberlour Childcare Trust | £100,000 | This group will use the funding to provide a perinatal befriending service to mothers in Edinburgh and the Lothians experiencing perinatal mental health difficulties. Volunteer befrienders are matched with mothers and support them from the baby’s birth and during the 1st year. Support is often offered where babies are premature and need special care in neonatal intensive care, which is a particularly stressful time for mothers and families. |
| Adoption UK Charity | £10,000 | The group will provide young people aged 5-25 years of age who have been adopted with the opportunity to build their confidence and develop new skills by participating in a range of activities. |
| Age Scotland | £10,000 | This group will use funding to expand its core service with a dedicated Benefits and Income Maximisation Advisor to ensure older people who are affected by the cost-of- living crisis will have access to the support and advice they are entitled to with a more holistic approach. |
| ART WALK PROJECTS CIC | £9,450 | This group will use the funding to trial a climate café which will include regular meetings, events and activities as part of the SALT eco-arts programme from January- September 2023. The café will be focussed at young people aged 19-25 years of age within the Craigentinny, Seafield, Portobello, Musselburgh, Craigmillar and Niddrie areas. |
| Community One Stop Shop | £114,807 | This group will use the funding to continue delivering advice, support and food provision for people in Broomhouse and the Calders. Services form a crisis response as well longer-term support which helps to reduce long-term poverty, food and fuel insecurity, stress and anxiety – improving living situations for local people. |
| Corstorphine Community Centre | £98,550 | This group will use the funding to provide a range of activities for all ages that will be developed and led by local residents in Corstorphine and the surrounding areas of the North West of Edinburgh. They will also provide a variety of different volunteering opportunities for community members. |
| Cyrenians | £70,763 | This group will use the funding to recruit an Income Maximisation Worker who will work across all services to support people impacted by cost-of-living crisis. The Worker will provide one to one support and train 50 key workers at the organisation to also provide financial support. 1,800 people will benefit from the project over 12 months. |
| Cyrenians | £160,000 | This group will use the funding to continue its “Golden Years” service which is formed from a variety of support and activities for people over 60 years of age living in Edinburgh. This is led by a befriending service, which has now evolved to offer additional support to meet the needs of participants. Over two years of funding there will be 460 participants and 65 volunteers. |
| Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity | £10,000 | The group will use the funding for a Complementary Therapist to work with children, parents and staff. This free holistic service will use complementary therapy techniques to provide much-needed relaxation, relief and comfort together with quiet gentle care away from the clinical environment of the hospital wards. |
| Equal Futures | £80,471 | This group will use the funding to support people with a learning disability or autism as well as their families and carers. This support will be provided through befriending, social activities and creating a circle of support. |
| Fathers Network Scotland | £8,100 | The funding will cover costs associated with the group’s 2023 annual “Dad Survey” – offering opportunities for fathers to shared lived experiences. The findings help understand emerging trends for families across Scotland and inform future service design and policy-making. |
| Fountainbridge Canalside Community Trust | £10,000 | The Trust will use the funding to organise themed events and activities such as well- being and sustainability workshops and activities during their canalside festival for local people and community groups. |
| Friends of Easter Craiglockhart Hill | £10,000 | This group will use the funding to create a community garden on a disused patch of ground, deliver a weekly programme of activities at the garden and walks around the hill targeted at older residents in the local area. |
| Gorgie Collective | £9,993 | This group will use the funding to provide a weekly warm space and meal, as well as creative workshops for local people in the Gorgie Dalry area. |
| Governors Of Dean Orphanage & Cauvins Trust | £37,921 | This group will use the funding to support young care leavers with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. Funding will be used to address the fundamental challenges relating to managing money, benefits advice, accessing emergency accommodation and dealing with placement/tenancy breakdown. |
| Governors Of Dean Orphanage & Cauvins Trust | £9,750 | This group will use the funding to fit out their new purpose built residential accommodation in Edinburgh supporting young people who are care leavers aged between 13-21 years of age. |
| Harbour Homes Scotland Limited | £42,650 | This group will use funding to employ two Energy Advisors who will provide support across a broad spectrum of energy issues. These community-based Housing Associations cover areas including Granton, Leith and Muirhouse. |
| Love Learning Scotland SCIO | £29,613 | ***This group will use the funding to operate a daily foodbank, operated by two Foodbank Coordinators and a team of volunteers. The foodbank is non-referral and will be open to all locally who would like to access it. Over 12 months, 2,400 will be involved and there will be 16 volunteers.*** This award is not being accepted by the charity who had advised the fund that they have recently given up running Gorgie City Farm. The National Lottery have confirmed that the monies will go back into their fund and will be allocated at a later date. |
| Meningitis Now | £10,000 | This group will use the funding to provide aftercare for people across Scotland who have been affected by Meningitis. |
| One Parent Families Scotland | £124,659 | This group will provide practical and emotional support for single parent families in Edinburgh. They will promote and sustain positive parenting practices whilst supporting single parents to grow in confidence, resilience and independence. Up to 1,700 people will benefit from the services over three years. |
| One Parent Families Scotland | £10,000 | This organisation will use the funding to expand their “Growing not Waiting” (GNW) service that supports single mothers with children under five years of age. |
| Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society | £10,000 | This group will use the funding to employ a part time Horticultural Assistant and install shading blinds in their new glasshouse. They will be able to increase their offering of horticultural workshops and volunteer opportunities to the local community. |
| SAM (Scottish Autistic media) RADIO | £9,442 | The group will use the funding to cover the costs of broadcasting their weekly radio show for adults on the autistic spectrum in Edinburgh. |
| Scotland Yard Adventure Centre | £120,000 | This group will use the funding to provide family play sessions at their Edinburgh base for disabled young people and their families. These sessions will support whole families to play together, and to meet other similar families and young people. The Yard is used by families across Edinburgh as well as a very small number from the rest of the Lothians. |
| Space @ The Broomhouse Hub | £58,844 | This group will use funding to provide free early evening meals, four times a week, from their community hub over a 12 month period. Working with local partners who specialise in advice provision they will offer support and signposting to any attendee who needs it. Funding will also support the delivery of their annual Street Party, a well- attended local event which provides a different avenue for advice provision. |
| Spit it Out | £9,618 | This group will use the funding to continue their expanded Aye Thrive and Aye Connected sessions, which support people in Edinburgh who have experience poor mental health. |
| St Teresa’s Youth Club | £9,999 | This group will use the funding to provide youth work provision within the Greater Craigmillar area consisting of weekly drop-in sessions providing a variety of activities and outing for children and young people. |
| Steps to Hope SCIO | £10,000 | This group will use the funding to deliver a range of activities for users of their accommodation who are in a recovery programme for alcohol and drug dependency. |
| The Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain Limited Edinburgh Branch | £9,953 | The group will use the funding to provide regular hot meals and drop in sessions for displaced Ukrainian families. |
| Upward Mobility Ltd | £137,998 | The group will use the funding to provide additional activities and support for adults with learning disabilities and autism. This will help all their current students who engage with their classes and support, giving them a wider range of opportunities and flexibility of delivery model. This service is used by people across Edinburgh, East Lothian and Midlothian. |
| Valley Park Community Centre Association | £9,900 | This group will use the funding too to provide a range of activities for children and young people within the South East of Edinburgh. |
| Wester Hailes Community Trust | £9,900 | The group will use the funding to employ a Community Development Worker to aid the implementation of the recently completed Wester Hailes “Local Place Plan” by taking the lead on 24 projects outlined by and for the local community. |
| You My Sister | £9,900 | This group will use the fund to deliver two mental health recovery programmes one for sex trade survivors and one for domestic abuse survivors for women within Edinburgh. |
Kate Still, Scotland Chair, The National Lottery Community Fund said: “This latest round of National Lottery funding will be distributed to important groups and organisations who are providing essential services, drop-in points, and community centres around the country – making a real, tangible difference to everyday life.
“With the rising cost-of-living being at the front of everyone’s minds, groups like these are more vital than ever, offering people across Scotland a place to turn to in times of need. This amazing support is only possible because of National Lottery players.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
