Edinburgh Local

The Community Grant Scheme: Five years of community impact

Over five years, our Community Grant Scheme has supported community-led initiatives across South East Scotland, disbursing over £555,700 to 176 organisations.

NB: Information in the below report applies to the period April 2017 - April 2023. Ongoing funding and demographic reach and impact beyond this period is not captured in the below data. 

What is the scheme?

Since 2017, the University of Edinburgh’s Community Grant scheme has actively supported the development of local projects, community activities and sustainable local action through funding and collaboration.

Over five years the University’s Community Grant Scheme has supported over 200 projects and social enterprises for the benefit of people and places across South East Scotland. The scheme is a core part of our Community Plan and we are immensely proud to have contributed to such a diverse range of impactful projects. 

We will continue to work closely with initiatives to nurture relationships and empower community action in support of social and environmental values.

Dave GormanDirector, Social Responsibility and Sustainability, The University of Edinburgh

Delivered by the Department of Social Responsibility and Sustainability, the scheme underpins the University’s ambition to support local people's vision for a better Edinburgh, and between 2017 and 2022 has disbursed over £555,700 to 213 individual projects. As a partner of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, the University has awarded community grants to the region covered by the Deal: the City of Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Scottish Borders.

Delivering impact

Leith Community Crops in Pots
Leith Community Crops in Pots aims to improve children's emotional wellbeing whilst encouraging intake of fruit and vegetables.

We have evaluated the impact of the scheme over the last five years, to highlight the exceptional achievements of our grantees and identify how the University can continue to effectively support community projects.

The assessment has explored how the grants awarded have delivered positive change against the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide clear objectives to enable impact measurement. SDGs relating to social equity and wellbeing were targeted by the majority of projects.

  • 140 projects contributed to SDG 3.4: Reduce mortality from non-communicable diseases and promote mental health.
  • Over 115 projects contributed to SDG 10.2: Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
  • 44 projects contributed to SDG 11.7: Provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals

Who benefits?

Our analysis confirmed that more organisations have been funded in areas with higher concentrations of households experiencing one or more societal inequalities. A greater number of projects based in the City of Edinburgh received funding compared to neighbouring local authorities, particularly Fife.

From the data we could obtain, we found that a greater number of children and young people were benefiting from grantee projects when compared to other groups, whereas projects that benefit LGBTQI+ groups are relatively underrepresented.

Achieving long-term positive change

We are delighted to see that many projects were sustained beyond the funded period. In some cases, grantees found that the interest of the University helped leverage further investment from other funders. Other projects received further funding or had built capacity and relationships that meant projects could continue to operate without further funding.

To have Edinburgh University on board from early on acted as leverage for significant funding from a number of different supporters and we are extremely grateful for the University’s early adoption of this project. Funding has now been secured for the project for the current year two and in part for year three.

Edinburgh Women's Aid

Examples of Community Grant supported projects

Youth 2000 Community Grant recipient
The Mayfield and Easthouses Youth 2000 project received Community Grant funding from the University in 2019.

West Lothian Financial Inclusion Network

Based in Whitburn, West Lothian, the West Lothian Financial Inclusion Network aims to aims to ensure that all West Lothian residents are aware of their financial choices. The charity promotes access to financial advice and other services, targeting the most excluded social groups. Since 2020, the University of Edinburgh has supported five funded projects run by the Network aiding children and families experiencing food poverty, social isolation and financial instability.

West Lothian Financial Inclusion Network

Mayfield and Easthouses Youth 2000

Mayfield and Easthouses Youth 2000 Project (Y2K) has offered a hub for young people to socialise and enjoy activities and workshops that build skills and confidence. The Community Grant from the University of Edinburgh enabled Y2K to run a six-month InvolveU/180 pilot, which was evaluated and used to provide information to aid the delivery of youth programmes for young people involved in anti-social and risk-taking behaviours.

Youth 2000

Read more about the projects we have supported through the scheme.

What's next

We can do more to support organisations in South East Scotland. As part of the evaluation report, feedback from grantees was collated to help improve our processes and outreach moving forward. Future activities could include:

  • Connecting University staff and students to organisations and projects for a variety of volunteering roles, from business development to fundraising to one-off groundworks support.
  • Student and staff collaboration on research and evaluation, including input of specialist knowledge like biodiversity, public health and education.
  • Access to University archives, collections and data sets.

The University of Edinburgh’s Community Team is looking for ways to improve accessibility and inclusivity of this scheme, alongside ways to connect University students and researchers to community initiatives.

Please get in touch with your ideas and questions about the Community Grants Scheme and the application process.

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