• All Together
• Building Bridges
• Citadel Arts Group
• Citadel Youth Centre
• Deaf Action
• Dr Bell’s Family Centre
• Edinburgh and Lothian Regional Equality Council (ELREC)
• Edinburgh Community Food & MILAN ‘Leith Bowl Blethers’
• Edinburgh NE Foodbank
• Edinburgh Remakery
• Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts
• Feniks
• Hermitage Park Primary School PTA

• Kin Collective Family Wellbeing Hub
• Leith Primary Parent Council
• LeithLate
• Multi-Cultural Family Base
• Nurture the play
• PIE Scotland
• Pilmeny Development Project
• Projekt 42
• SHE Scotland
• Sikh Sanjog’s Punjabi Junction
• The Junction
• Upward Mobility (UPMO)
• YMCA

All Together

Amount requested: £5000
All Together Edinburgh will launch a new, innovative and cost-free service to reach the most vulnerable/social isolated individuals in Leith, ensuring they feel part of our society. We will launch:

1. A specialist virtual shopping experience for those who are unable to visit the shop so they can view our range of mood enhancing products (books/CDs/DVDs/jigsaws) remotely.
2. A VIP shopping experience where socially isolated members of the community will be invited to our store for a special 1:1 appointment, helping them take their first step towards connectedness.

The grant money will fund the cost of the products/home delivery service.

For background information http://www.altogetheredinburgh.org.uk

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Building Bridges

Amount requested: £2180
Qualifies for boost vote

Building Bridges will challenge food poverty and reduce isolation, in partnership with Punjabi Junction, by hosting online cookery classes to demonstrate how to prepare economical Indian meals and bringing together low-income households. Also, welcoming all who want to learn more about the cuisine and culture of the Punjabi community in Leith. The lessons will be accessible, easy to follow and easy to adapt, demonstrating techniques such as knife skills, chopping/slicing, different levels of healthy cooking, and flavour combinations. We will aim to teach people about Punjabi culture and bring people together who are at risk of facing social isolation in Leith.

For background information Pall@Buildingbridges.scot

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Citadel Arts Group

Amount requested: £4650
Citadel Arts Group will adapt Bill Haddow’s lively historical novel, ‘Leithers One Family’ into short audio plays scripted by older people, recorded on Zoom and shared on www.citadelgoesviral.com. Since Covid, this web site entertained over 900, including many older people at risk of isolation and depression. ‘The highlight of my week’, one told us. The grant will pay our theatre workers’ fees. After lockdown, we’ll take scenes into schools and sheltered housing where we’ve worked: Trinity and St Mary’s Primary; Port of Leith centres, Gordon Court; Citadel’s youth drama group in Leith Community Centre. School pupils and older people will enjoy short plays together then socialise.

For background information https://www.citadelartsgroup.co.uk

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Citadel Youth Centre

Amount requested: £5000
The Digital Intergenerational Café will enable isolated older people to stay connected with the community during the coronavirus pandemic. The Café will meet weekly on Zoom, with younger and older people doing activities together, such as quizzes, arts and crafts and baking. We will deliver activity packs to older people each week to enable them to participate. We will also provide digital devices for older people who need them and help to install and operate software. We hope to involve young people in providing this digital support, enabling them to share their skills with the older generation.

For background information https://citadelyouthcentre.org.uk

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Deaf Action

Amount requested: £5000
We will offer Lipreading Classes for people in Leith with hearing loss. Studies link hearing loss with a higher risk of loneliness/isolation and depression. Lipreading is an early intervention skill that boosts confidence in communicating. People attending often describe learning to lipread as “the world opening up again”. An experienced tutor will deliver Beginners’ Lipreading Courses, with each participant benefiting from 60 hours of tuition and support. With an award of £5000, we can support 2 classes of 16 participants, a total of 32 beneficiaries. Acquiring lipreading skills (1) improves communication; (2) reduces social anxiety/isolation; (3) improves mental wellbeing.

For background information https://www.deafaction.org

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Dr Bell’s Family Centre

Amount requested: £3630
We will help families in Leith get together in the holidays, take part in activities, enjoy healthy, tasty food and meet others in similar situations. 2020 has been a difficult year for parents with young children. Many families are facing financial hardship and food insecurity, others are feeling increasingly isolated, especially single parents. We want to give everyone something to look forward to. We will: host picnics in Leith’s beautiful parks; provide ‘fakeaway’ kits so families can cook tasty treats at home; take families on outings to outdoor attractions, run yoga sessions for parents and messy play sessions for kids.

For background information http://www.drbells.co.uk

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Edinburgh and Lothian Regional Equality Council (ELREC)

Amount requested: £5000
Qualifies for boost vote

To meet the immediate needs of the community during the COVID-19 pandemic and make sure that no child goes hungry, we will run our food project ‘ELREC Supports Leith’ to provide food parcels to low-income, food-insecure ethnic minority households whose specific dietary requirements are not satisfied by existing foodbanks. There is a demand for food such as halal meat, rice, and specific cultural food items so we want to provide this help as a unique food parcel service for BAME families. We need funding to ensure that our parcels contain the items most requested by the community. These will be prepared by local businesses in the Leith area such as halal meat shops, Spanish/Polish shops etc

For background information http://www.elrec.org.uk

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Edinburgh Community Food & MILAN ‘Leith Bowl Blethers’

Amount requested: £4400
Qualifies for boost vote

Friendship, Food: Connectedness: Leith-based Edinburgh Community Food (ECF) and MILAN wish to help older members of our Asian communities in Leith by providing nutritious hot meals for 20 weeks, online community eat-together sessions and doorstep face-to-face blethers to help those suffering from loneliness and food poverty.

• Together we will cook tasty & nutritious hot meals over 20 weeks using culturally appropriate ingredients.
• We will hand-deliver the meals along with a face-to-face chat focusing on sharing happy food memories.
• We will host online community meals.
• We will provide specialist online nutrition training to help staff support our BME communities.

For background information https://www.edinburghcommunityfood.org.uk

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Edinburgh NE Foodbank

Amount requested: £5000
The Edinburgh NE and Leith Foodbank provides 3-day emergency food parcels, for people in crisis. We would like to expand what we offer and provide a voucher for a nutritious meal and drink to the many clients we support, particularly those who do not have cooking facilities. Through partnership working with the South Leith Parish Church Community Café, clients will be given a voucher which they will redeem at the community café for a 3-course nutritious meal and drink.

Our project fits in with both the themes of challenging food poverty and reducing isolation.

For background information http://www.edinburghne.foodbank.org.uk

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Edinburgh Remakery

Amount requested: £4620
Older People Digital Connecting Project: The Edinburgh Remakery would like to provide 30 refurbished laptops to the beneficiaries of the Pilmeny Development Project This would enable the Edinburgh Remakery to:

• divert 30 laptops from going to landfill
• utilise parts from old computers to repair and refurbish the laptops.

Project will assist older people aged 60+ to get connected and help end digital poverty and social isolation The project will give them access to vital online services such as healthcare, education and housing, and allow them to keep in touch with their loved ones, crucial for mental wellbeing.

For background information http://www.edinburghremakery.org.uk

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Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts

Amount requested: £5000
We want to get Leith through the winter, ensuring that nobody within an EH6/7 postcode must worry about feeding themselves throughout the most critical months of the year.

We’ve served 350,000 meals throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, by turning surplus food into nutritious free meals. We currently cook for 1000 people per day, delivering to 432 Leith addresses.

Funding will allow us to continue delivery to our 432 Leith residents, and our 130 daily hot service clients. It will support the continued effort of coordinating our volunteer chefs, packers and delivery drivers, reimbursing expenses and purchasing PPE and packaging.

For background information http://www.emptykitchens.co.uk

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Feniks

Amount requested: £4420
Qualifies for boost vote

The proposed project aims at tackling social isolation and enhancing connectedness of the multicultural elderly of Leith – particularly people of Polish, Scottish, Asian and African descent. In partnership with local community organisations, we will organise three multicultural cuisine exchange classes; art workshops and a meeting exploring the memories of growing up in different cultures. To boost the confidence of the Polish participants, we will give them an opportunity to attend English classes to help them prepare for the activities. The project will be delivered in line with the social distancing regulations.

For background information http://www.feniks.org.uk

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Hermitage Park Primary School PTA

Amount requested: £3250
61% of Scottish school children experience bullying. The effect of Covid-19 restrictions is increased loneliness and use of technology, leading to a higher risk of in-person and cyber bullying. ‘Hermie Bully Busters’ is a student empowerment programme designed to tackle the isolation felt by victims.

Using a Children’s Rights approach, P7s will be empowered to become anti-bullying activists, and supported to design a ‘kindness-kit’ which will be shared with all Leith Primary Schools. It will fund facilitators to lead in-person and digital workshops and a Scottish Parliament visit. The beneficiaries will be 860 pupils from across all Leith Primary Schools.

For background information https://hermieschoolassoc.wordpress.com

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Kin Collective Family Wellbeing Hub

Amount requested: £4900
The Perinatal Wellbeing Project will support new and expectant parents’ physical, emotional and mental health in pregnancy and early parenthood. The project will increase community and connection among pregnant and new parents, reducing social isolation and loneliness. We will positively impact perinatal mental health, helping parents feel more prepared, confident and connected.
Our peer support programme will deliver pregnancy, infant feeding, mental health, postpartum fitness, buggy walks and buddying groups – all creating networks and community for parents needing support. In addition our online and in person wellbeing workshops will combine practical and professional support providing new parents with a wellbeing toolkit to help stay well.

For background information https://kincollective.org

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Leith Primary Parent Council

Amount requested: £1120
LPPC will provide the school with boxes of breakfast and healthy snack food items which will be positioned in each classroom and at key stations round the school such as the office. This is so that school staff can easily provide children with breakfast or a snack with minimal fuss or disruption to their learning. There are a significant number of pupils arriving at school each day without having had breakfast, without a snack for breaktime or an adequate lunch. The boxes will support these vulnerable children who are falling through the net of other food provision in school or the wider community.

For background information http://www.leithparents.org

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LeithLate

Amount requested: £5000
LeithLate would like to host some ‘cycle-in’ film screenings at an outdoor public space in Leith. After the success of our Singalong Sunshine on Leith and other archive and projection events in 2020, we wish to screen films of local significance in order to bring our community together in a celebration of Leith. All LeithLate events are either free, pay-what-you-can or by donation, so there is no financial barrier to attending. In addition to the public screenings, we would also like to screen films directly with community groups working with young and older people who otherwise might struggle to attend.

For background information http://www.leithlate.co.uk

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Multi-Cultural Family Base

Amount requested: £4510
Qualifies for boost vote

To combat food poverty, we will provide vulnerable minority ethnic families with food (directly or vouchers) to celebrate significant religious and cultural festivals, e.g. Easter, Eid and Chinese New Year. We will reduce isolation by bringing families together online for cooking demonstrations, workshops and cultural celebrations. We will provide and deliver activity packs and organise outdoor activities, such as gardening, guided walks and hopefully cycling, kyaking. When possible, we will hold events indoors at locations that allow for social distancing, e.g. parent and babies groups, and classes to help adults gain digital skills with interpreting for families whose first language is not English.

For background information http://www.mcfb.org.uk

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Nurture the Play

Amount requested £5000

Our aim is to reduce the isolation of family carers in our local area through providing an online community and delivering classes and play ideas/activities (free). In times that we cannot deliver our classes due to Covid we will work in the outdoors and offer a befriending service. The befriending service is when we meet carers with their children and go for a walk to a local green space. In the green space we will implement educational activities for the children and provide support to carers.

The money will be spent on resources and staffing costs for sessional project workers and class tutors.

The main beneficiaries of our project will be children aged under 6 and their families.

For background information https://www.nurturetheplay.co.uk

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PIE Scotland

Amount requested: £5000
Qualifies for boost vote

Emergency ‘One Stop Shop’: COVID-19 is causing unprecedented hardship. We serve migrants from Western Europe who often work in hard-hit hospitality and tourism, and don’t have any family/social support network locally. Our weekly ‘shop’ will help prevent people falling below the poverty line. It will include resources bank, soup kitchen, information and legal/welfare advice in the person’s own language. Also access to free online English classes (improve job opportunities) and yoga/self-defence classes (health and wellbeing).

Although mostly volunteer run, grant money would be spent on resources for the bank, equipment and ingredients (for soup), sessional workers (to run classes). Outcomes will be reducing isolation and improving people’s lives during this crisis.

For background information http://www.piescotland.org

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Pilmeny Development Project

Amount requested: £3920
Our project will fight loneliness; reduce social isolation and food poverty experienced by local older people and carers in Leith. We are seeking funding to enable us to offer a range of activities to help the most vulnerable older people cope with the impact of COVID-19 including:

• telephone befriending
• volunteers
• provision of emergency food and ‘take and make’ meals
• newsletters and Themed Activity Packs
• addressing the Digital Divide by assisting older people to get online
• outcomes: Reduced social isolation and loneliness, improved mental, physical health and wellbeing, along with reduced food and digital poverty of older people in Leith.

For background information http://www.pilmenydevelopmentproject.co.uk

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Projekt 42

Amount requested: £4700
Projekt 42 would like to extend support to community members who are out of work. We understand long term unemployment and sudden job loss can lead to a sense of lost identity, social isolation and increase the likelihood of mental health issues.

With funding we will:

• Deliver work-focused cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) and individual job support for people struggling with work participation due to common mental health disorders.
• Run a weekly outdoor fitness activity that aims to build confidence and connect more with other Leith residents
• Provide access and support to complete nationally accredited qualifications.

For background information http://www.projekt42.co.uk

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SHE Scotland

Amount requested: £2500
SHE Scotland aims to create a stronger connection for Leith Academy students to mentor vulnerable female pupils, to support, inspire and develop positive relationships. The 10-week Mind, Body & Soul Programme will be delivered in partnership with Leith Academy, Judy Murray Foundation and SHE Scotland. Ambassadors will be trained to develop and deliver a programme of 8 workshops to support Leith Primary schools’ transition programme April – June 2021. Our proposal would bring together pupils from Leith, Hermitage Park and Craigentinny Primaries. Funding would contribute to the costs of project workers and resources /materials. The SHE MBS Programme aims to connect Leith females to become more resilient, supported and improve their physical and mental wellbeing.

For background information http://www.shescotland.org.uk

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Sikh Sanjog’s Punjabi Junction

Amount requested: £4330
Qualifies for boost vote

Funding will allow us to purchase PPE equipment, Asian dry food supplies, ingredients for weekly Asian hot meals, kitchen hours, project workers, and delivery mileage costs. Our project will prepare, cook, pack and deliver Asian based nutritious food to isolated BAME individuals/families suffering from food poverty. Throughout lockdown our service users often said that although appreciative of food parcels from other organizations, they missed having their own traditional food. The meals will be cooked fresh in our catering premises at Midlothian Innovation Centre and delivered to individuals and families around Leith. The project will allow BAME individuals and families access to Asian meals at least once or twice a week improving their health, mood and wellbeing.

For background information http://www.sikhsanjog.com/punjabi-junction

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The Junction

Amount requested: £3190
‘Digital Drop-in’ is The Junction’s immediate response to keeping connected to vulnerable young people during the pandemic, and offering support. With continued uncertainty facing 2021, the digital drop-in must be extended and developed. This remote service offers free one-to-one support via a preferred method of communication, e.g WhatsApp, Zoom or phone, for young people aged 12-21 in the community. Trained workers will listen and offer advice on how to cope with anything affecting young people’s mental and emotional wellbeing, particularly isolation, anxiety, identity, family and friend relationships and education. Funding will cover technology costs (smart phones for workers, internet dongles, data costs, specialist software to ensure confidentiality and security, IT support), and postage of self-care kits.

For background information: https://the-junction.org

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Upward Mobility (UPMO)

Amount requested: £4840
Our project will focus on reducing Isolation through developing a volunteer support network providing additional support and outreach facilities to disabled students, where isolation and lack of opportunities has been exacerbated by the current pandemic. As we emerge from lockdown, there is a need to tap into the available resources in Leith. We are keen to bring together our students with the local community, and forge links and opportunities which will benefit the student and the volunteers. Through engaging with the local community through the development of a volunteering network we can bring people together and encourage a wider partnership.

For background information http://www.upmo.org

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YMCA

Amount requested: £4990

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