£eith Chooses has been running since 2010 and sometimes we take it for granted that ‘everybody’ knows what it is about, but obviously that’s not the case for newcomers to Leith. So here’s an outline- £eith Chooses is a way of getting funding (from the City of Edinburgh Council ‘Community Grants Fund’) to community groups and charities in Leith, for projects that will benefit the local community in Leith. Up to £5,000 can be available for a project, but there’s only usually about £44,000 available altogether.

It’s a yearly process. Every summer (August -ish) there is a call for applications and the Application Forms and Guidance Notes are made available for groups to complete. Applications for funding need to be in by October/November-ish,and are then processed.

Then every January, a vote is held so that the local people in Leith can vote for which projects they think should get funded (because, sadly, there is not enough money for ALL the projects that apply). The projects receiving the most votes win the funding they applied for.

What’s special about it?
It works on the principle of ‘participatory budgeting’, or ‘PB’, which means that local people (not the Council) get to say how public money is spent locally. Arguably, this is more democratic than in other parts of Edinburgh where the Community Grants are distributed by a ‘Panel’ of just a few people.
(This Leith version of PB is very small scale. Some other places have vast PB processes, like Paris, where they let the people decide on the spending of millions of Euros. Edinburgh Council is ‘supposed to’ (directed by Scottish Government) hand a bigger proportion of public spending over to citizens, but so far seems to have trouble doing so. This may evolve slowly.)

What’s good about it?
(Apart from giving money to local projects!) the open and interactive aspect of the process, especially the face to face voting day in the Leith Community Centre, helps to build community spirit and to maintain community cohesion. Local people learn about the charities and groups in their area, and their activities, and there are opportunities to network and make new working partnerships and perhaps new friends. Seeing that each person’s vote has a direct effect in their own neighbourhood is empowering.

Who can apply for money? Any charity or group that has a Constitution and its own bank account, to deliver a new 1 year project in Leith.

Who can vote? Anyone who lives, works or studies or volunteers  in Leith, who is 8 years old or over.

Who runs it? £eith Chooses is run by a team consisting of two Council officers (Dept. of Community Empowerment and Engagement) and a group of local volunteers, some of whom are also local Community Council members. This Steering Group is open to any other Leithers who wish to participate.

Could there be more money? At the moment, probably not from our cash-strapped Council. But £eith Chooses is very keen to accept donations from other organisations or businesses, to ‘swell’ the total amount available for projects. In the past, contributions have been welcomed from Trams to Newhaven and from Harbour Housing.