Citizens Advice Edinburgh will receive £100,000 in new funding over the next two years from independent funder Foundation Scotland.
The local charity, which has four offices in the city as well as an advice website, will receive £50,000 each this year and £50,000 in the next financial year.
The award is part of Foundation Scotland’s £12million fast-tracked “Response Fund”, designed to support organisations which serve the hardest hit communities across the country.
The funding programme comes in response to increased pressure on charities and community groups, many of whom are seeing a surge in demand for services while they themselves are facing reduced capacity and soaring overheads, such as utilities, staffing and National Insurance costs.
Citizens Advice Edinburgh delivers free, confidential, life-changing advice from four different bureaux, 20 outreach locations across the city, online, and by telephone.
In 2024/25, Edinburgh CAB provided advice to 12,000 people, delivering a total of £5 million in the form of compensation, benefit payments, with-held wages and other financial assistance.
Benjamin Napier, CEO of Citizens Advice Edinburgh, said: “This funding is a recognition of both the need and the quality of the work our advisers do and is a real vote of confidence in our service. It will help us to deliver our free confidential impartial advice to more local people at a time when demand for advice and support hits record levels.
“I’d like to say a huge thank you to Foundation Scotland for the support, and also to all the staff and volunteers in our CAB who continue to work each day to better the lives of people across Edinburgh.”
Giles Ruck, CEO of Foundation Scotland said: “CABs are often the first point of contact for people in crisis. Advisers and volunteers work tirelessly to provide the support and solutions needed to alleviate peoples’ worried but as charities themselves, CABs face their own set of pressures.
“As Scotland’s Community Foundation, we’re acutely aware that people across the country are continuing to face ongoing financial hardship, struggling to keep their heads above water or pay their bills.
https://www.foundationscotland.org.uk
https://www.citizensadviceedinburgh.org.uk
