LeithChooses

Participatory Budgeting for the Leith Neighbourhood Network

LeithChooses

Tag Archives: 2025

Would you like help with your £eithChooses application?

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Are you a new applicant? Have you got an idea that needs refining? Would you like to discuss anything, before sending in your application?
Please feel free to come along to speak to us this Wednesday 17th September, at 5:30pm, in the Leith Community Centre (upstairs at the Kirkgate).
Or Saturday 4rth October, at the Utilita shop in the Kirkgate, 10am-4pm
We would like to offer as much support as possible. It’s important to ask for help as early as possible in the process – please don’t leave it to the last minute!
If you would like some help with applying, please get in touch.
  • You can email leithchooses@edinburgh.gov.uk if you have questions, or to ask for someone to phone you or arrange a meeting (face to face or online), to discuss.
  • To talk to someone face to face, you can ‘drop in’ and visit a Steering Group meeting. These are held most Wednesdays at 3pm in the upstairs room at McDonald Road Library. We suggest you might email  (as above) to check a meeting is on that week, before coming along.
  • You can ‘drop in’ and visit an evening Steering Group meeting. These are held one Wednesday per month at 5:30pm in the Leith Community Centre, New Kirkgate. Upcoming dates for these are: 17th September; 15th October 2025
  • We’re also doing a pop-up support session on Saturday 4rth October, in the Utilita shop in the Kirkgate, 10am-4pm. Come in for a free coffee and a chat!

 

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Theme for 2025/26 is ‘Well-being in Leith’

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The Theme for 2025-2026 LeithChooses will be:

“Well-being in Leith”

Following feedback from previous years’ evaluations and our 2023 Community Conversation session, we asked members of the Leith community for their views on what the ‘Theme’ of next year’s LeithChooses should be, giving a choice of four possible options and also inviting them to put forward any other ideas. This was circulated in  May/June via the LeithChooses website, and via NextDoor, FaceBook, ‘X’,  and by email to all past applicants and to the wider mailing list. Unfortunately only 35 responses were received overall (thank you for those!), and no single option garnered even 50% of the votes. No new suggestions were put forward. The four options provided were:

  • Healthier and Safer Leith (13 votes)
  • Nurturing Connections (8 votes)
  • Culture and Creativity (7 votes)
  • Greener and Cleaner Leith (7 votes)

Because 35 responses can hardly be considered representative of the whole Leith community, after careful consideration and discussion, the LeithChooses Steering Group decided on a different theme, which we feel encapsulates the core of the most popular theme ‘Healthier and Safer Leith’, and is also broad enough to cover project proposals from the other three suggested themes / areas of activity.

Therefore the Theme agreed upon for 2025-2026 LeithChooses is:

“Well-being in Leith”

Now – what exciting community projects will local groups come up with, in line with that theme? Can’t wait to find out!

Applications to £EITH Chooses 2025/26 will open on Wednesday 13th August 2025.

 

Choose your themes for next year!

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Leithers, we need to hear from you, please!  We are planning for LeithChooses 2026 now, but as per our ‘Community Conversation’ commitments, we would like YOU to determine which topics or themes ought to be given priority. In the past, some years we have had very ‘open’ themes, other years we have asked that all project applications for funding should be focused on particular areas/types of activity.

Here are a few suggestions. Please select the one (or those) that you like best, and/or add your own suggestions.

  1. Healthier and Safer Leith
  2. Culture and Creativity
  3. Greener, Cleaner Leith
  4. Nurturing Connections
  5. Other (your ideas)

Please email your choices and ideas directly to LeithChooses@edinburgh.gov.uk, with ‘Themes for 2026’ in the subject line)

Update, 31 March 2025

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Most of this year’s successful community groups will have received their LeithChooses funding by now, from the Council Community Grants Fund, or very soon will, and will be starting on their project. We look forward to reporting more about these activities as they develop. Keep in touch and let us know of anything interesting going on, so we can pass that on to the Leith community.

Meanwhile the LeithChooses Steering Group is analysing the feedback provided by voters and applicants on the day and via our recent online surveys, and working on plans to streamine and improve the LeithChooses process in the future. Please get in touch at any time of you have any ideas, or would like to visit (or even join) the Steering Group.

Contact: LeithChooses@edinburgh.gov.uk

Last Chance Saloon! Vote online now!

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Online Voting is still live until Monday 3rd February!
Have you voted yet? www.edinburgh.gov.uk/voteleithchooses

If you didn’t manage to get to the in-person day at the Community Centre, you can still vote online. Even if you DID vote at the Community Centre, you can ALSO vote once online.

Please remind your friends, family and colleagues to vote, too. Everyone 8 years or older who lives, works, volunteers or attends school or college in Leith is eligible to vote.

Who to vote for?
You can browse the list of projects here, or on the voting site itself as you go through the voting process.

Please cast your votes now at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/voteleithchooses

Vote Online NOW!

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From 20th January to 3rd February 2025, online voting is open. Everyone 8 years or older who lives, works, volunteers or attends school or college in Leith is eligible to vote.

You get TWO voting opportunities – once at the live in-person voting day, and once online.

If you didn’t manage to get to the Voting Day on 18th January, you can still vote once online.
Even if you DID vote at the Community Centre, you can ALSO vote once online.

VOTE HERE
www.edinburgh.gov.uk/voteleithchooses

Please remind your friends, family and colleagues to vote, too.

Who to vote for?
You can find the list of 23 projects here, to check out who you want to vote for, or you will also have a chance to read about them as you go through the voting process.

VOTE HERE
www.edinburgh.gov.uk/voteleithchooses

You will need to give your Leith home post-code or street name to show you are eligible to vote. Or give your school name, or the address of your work or volunteeer work, if you don’t live in Leith.

LeithChooses goes live!!

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We have lift-off!

Happy to announce that we can now reveal to you all the exciting projects that are applying to LeithChooses for funding, this year.

Deliberation
You can find the list of 24 projects here, and you have about 6 weeks to browse through all these projects and think about which you would like to vote for when the time comes. Remember to tell your friends, family and colleagues to have a look too.

Voting
Voting will open on Saturday 18th January 2025. You can come along to the Leith Community Centre on that day, and meet all the project applicants in person, and place your votes in the ballot box there and then.

Then there will be a further 2 weeks of online voting. If you didn’t manage to get to the in-person day at the Community Centre, you can vote online. If you DID vote at the Community Centre, you can ALSO vote once online.

Please remind your friends, family and colleagues to vote, too. Everyone who lives, works, volunteers or studies in Leith is eligible to vote.

Voting closes on Monday 3rd February 2025.

All Details must be received by 18th November

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Please would all applicants be sure to submit the final details that have been requested by the Council LeithChooses team by 18th November at the latest, or their application may not be able to go forward. In many /most cases this is just a small matter of sending in quotes for planned costs over £300, and/or their organisation’s image  (for the online gallery of projects).

This will allow time for applicants to review the online gallery and accept or amend their project title before 1st December when the gallery describing all of the projects applying goes live for the public to view.

After that date, all organisations should start ‘canvassing’ for votes amongst their supporters and amongst the general public at large. Tell everybody about the project you hope to do, and keep reminding them to come along to the Voting Day and also to vote online, in January.

 

Deadline for Applications coming up……….

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Please get your application in NOW for LeithChooses 2024-2025!
The deadline for applications is 10 October 2024.

 The theme this year is Leith Uniting.

Local charities and community groups* can apply for project funding of up to £5,000.
As usual, projects should be new or adding new value (not continued funding of an existing service) that will be of benefit to the community in Leith. Projects should be designed to start after 1 April 2025 and run until March 2026 at the latest.

Please do ask for help and support in putting together your application if you wish. Contact leithchooses@edinburgh.gov.uk Please submit your application as early as you can – or let us know that you are intending to apply – that then leaves time for any questions or adjustments that may be necessary, and avoids the stressful ‘last minute rush’!
*only organisations that have a Constitution and a bank account may apply

Please download an application form here, and be sure to also download and study the Guidance Notes, to help you ascertain if your project is eligible, and to guide you in putting together your application. Various formats are available:

format Application Form Guidance Notes
DOCX Application form (DOCX format) Guidance notes (DOCX format)
DOC Application form (DOC format) Guidance notes (DOC format)
PDF Application form (PDF format) Guidance notes (PDF format)

You can also pick up a paper form at Leith Library, McDonald Road Library, Leith Community Centre, Out of the Blue, or Duncan Place.

The vote will be in January 2025.

Apply Now to LeithChooses!

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Please get your application in for LeithChooses 2024-2025!
The deadline for applications is 10 October 2024. The vote will be in January 2025.

The theme this year is Leith Uniting.

Local charities and community groups* can apply for project funding of up to £5,000.
As usual, projects should be new or adding new value (not continued funding of an existing service) that will be of benefit to the community in Leith. Projects should be designed to start after 1 April 2025 and run until March 2026 at the latest.

Please do ask for help and support in putting together your application if you wish. Contact leithchooses@edinburgh.gov.uk Please submit your application as early as you can – or let us know that you are intending to apply – that then leaves time for any questions or adjustments that may be necessary, and avoids the stressful ‘last minute rush’!
*only organisations that have a Constitution and a bank account may apply

Please download an application form here, and be sure to also download and study the Guidance Notes, to help you ascertain if your project is eligible, and to guide you in putting together your application. Various formats are available:

format Application Form Guidance Notes
DOCX Application form (DOCX format) Guidance notes (DOCX format)
DOC Application form (DOC format) Guidance notes (DOC format)
PDF Application form (PDF format) Guidance notes (PDF format)

You can also pick up a paper form at Leith Library, McDonald Road Library, Leith Community Centre, Out of the Blue, or Duncan Place.