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THIRD SECTOR FACES GROWING PRESSURE
Charities across Edinburgh entered the new year facing a complex operating environment, as Scottish Charity Register data reveals more organisations were removed from the register last year than were newly established.
According to the register, 101 charities were registered in Edinburgh during 2025, while 122 were removed from the register.
Removal from the register can include mergers or charities completing their purpose, but the figures highlight the ongoing pressures within the voluntary sector as organisations adapt to rising costs, regulatory demands and changing funding patterns.
This local picture mirrors UK trends. The Status of UK Fundraising 2025 report found that 54% of UK charities saw their fundraising income remain static or fall over the past year, with a substantial majority attributing this to wider economic conditions. While income is not universally declining, many organisations are having to work harder to maintain stability.
Ansvar Insurance, a specialist insurer for charities and not‑for‑profit organisations, says the challenge is less about short-term survival and more about long-term sustainability.
Adam Tier, Head of Underwriting at Ansvar, commented: “Edinburgh has always had an incredibly active charity sector, but these figures show just how challenging the current environment has become.
“Rising operational costs, a more competitive fundraising landscape and increased demand with an average of 27% of Edinburgh residents relying on charitable services mean organisations need to think differently about sustainability.”
To help local organisations strengthen their resilience, Ansvar is encouraging charities to explore less obvious strategies that can make a meaningful difference:
Despite the pressures, the registration of new charities in Edinburgh during 2025 demonstrates the commitment of local communities to addressing social need.
Adam Tier added: “Financial sustainability isn’t just about raising more money. Often, it’s about taking a fresh look at existing processes and asking the right questions.
“The organisations that thrive are those that plan ahead, understand their risks and adapt early, positioning themselves to weather these challenges and continue serving their communities for years to come.”
https://www.cafonline.org/insights/research/uk-local-giving-report-2025#interMap
For those who provide round the clock care to loved ones, the festive season requires military level organisation around medication schedules, hospital appointments and the unpredictable demands of caring.
Carers Trust Scotland have heard from many unpaid carers that they started their festive season shopping and planning many months ago. This kind of early planning is common for many of Scotland’s 800,000 unpaid carers, who often have very little free time and disposable income. These individuals provide care worth £15.9 billion annually, yet their efforts often go unseen.
“I started buying gifts last Christmas,” says Celia, who cares for her son Paul. “I can’t just pop out when I want, so I plan ahead. When I see offers, I buy doubles and store them away.
“By December, I’m juggling food, drink and all the little extras that add up, it’s like paying double bills at this time of year.”
But festive cheer comes with added challenges. Rising energy costs have hit unpaid carers hard:
“Paul can’t regulate his body temperature, so the heating used to be on all the time,” Celia explains. “Now, with prices soaring, I’ve had to put it on a timer. This morning, Paul came up and said, ‘Mum, my hands are cold.’
“When I do put the heating on, he thanks me like I’ve given him an extra present. That’s heartbreaking.”
Research from Carers Trust Scotland highlights the pressures carers face, even during the holidays:
• 41% of unpaid carers on Carer Support Payment are struggling financially.
• 28% of unpaid carers living in a home with just one adult carer are in fuel poverty.
• Almost half (49%) of unpaid carers on Universal Credit and living alone are fuel poor.
• 74% worry about affording energy bills and 12% have used a food bank. • Only 30% say Carer Support Payment makes a meaningful difference.
Celia’s story reflects these realities. She’s not only managing the festive season on a tight budget but also fighting to restore her son’s care package after it was stopped without warning:
“Paul has a rare brain disease. He could die at any time. I’ve had to remortgage my house, and I’m thousands of pounds in debt just to keep his life as it was. If his routine changes, his anxiety could trigger another collapse.”
Despite these struggles, Celia remains determined to make the festive season special:
“Paul is an absolute joy. Every day he brings light and life to our home. He even makes his own Christmas cards, after six years of therapy just to hold a pencil.”
Carers Trust Scotland works with a network of local carer organisations to provide support, funding and advice to unpaid carers across the country. Reaching around 66,000 adult and young carers, the charity aims to ensure unpaid carers are recognised and have access to the resources they need to live fulfilled lives.
“Three out of five of us will become carers at some point in our lives,” says Becky Duff, Carers Trust Scotland Director. “This Christmas, we want people to understand the reality of caring and to celebrate the resilience and love that unpaid carers bring to their families every day.”
As Scotland approaches a new chapter in 2026, there’s an opportunity to ensure unpaid carers are better supported and recognised. Carers Trust Scotland will continue working closely with government and partners to shape policies that reflect the realities of caring.
A Little Help Goes a Long Way
Since April 2025, our small grants programme has provided nearly £130,000 in direct support to carers, funding essentials like heated blankets, tablets to reduce isolation, and respite breaks.
Every gift counts: £30 could keep a carer warm this winter, £100 could help an isolated carer stay connected.
Learn more about our work and how you can support unpaid carers at Fundraising for Carers in Scotland | Carers Trust Scotland
In Edinburgh, our population continues to grow at speed and for some years now, housing demand has been significantly outstripping supply.
Since declaring a Housing Emergency nearly two years ago, this Council, together with housing providers and partners across the sector, has continued to grapple with this crisis within statutory and policy frameworks, including the new Housing Bill, and resources available.
World Homeless Day 2025 coincides with Challenge Poverty Week, with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reporting earlier this week that almost 250,000 children in Scotland are experiencing poverty.
Eighty thousand Edinburgh residents live in relative poverty, comprising one in five children, and 5,500 of our households are without settled housing, living in temporary accommodation.
To tackle this, the Council’s approach focuses on prevention, early intervention and mitigation.
Central to preventing homelessness is making sure everyone has access to a safe, warm place to stay; and investing in help and support for those at risk of losing their homes.
In 2024, we helped prevent homelessness for 2,622 households. This work ranges from our Early Intervention team, who reach out to all households who contact homelessness services, to specialist advice and support provided by our Private Rented Sector team.
Where we have been unable to prevent individuals and families from losing their homes, we are working hard to provide suitable alternative accommodation through our Housing Emergency Action Plan (HEAP).
Our long-term plans to reduce the need for temporary accommodation and improve the quality and quantity of our housing stock include our ambitious housebuilding programme, efforts to acquire new homes directly from providers, bringing empty homes back into use, and investing in the retrofitting of existing housing stock.
This World Homeless Day, as Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, I am acutely aware of the power of work we all still need to do and the resources we need from Government to deliver meaningful increases in our housing supply so that every person and family in Edinburgh can be living in a warm, safe, energy efficient home.
Two charities in Fife were welcomed to Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Dunfermline to gain fresh ideas and practical support to help develop their logistics and operations.
The event, organised by Pilotlight, brought together Fife Gingerbread and Big House Multibank with the team at Amazon in Dunfermline. Pilotlight is an organisation that connects business experts with charities to help deliver greater social impact.
More than 30 Amazon employees from Dunfermline took part in a day of collaborative problem-solving sessions. The charities shared some of the challenges they’re currently facing and Amazon employees worked in teams to come up with practical, strategic solutions, drawing on their professional skills and experience.
Kirsten Harrower, an Amazon employee who took part in the event, said: “It was an amazing experience to apply our skills in support of two incredible charities that do so much for our community.
“It felt great to be part of something that can make a real difference.”
Jamie Strain, General Manager from Amazon in Dunfermline, added: “We’re proud to support Fife Gingerbread and Big House Multibank and events like this are a great way to use the skills of our team to give back.
“We’re committed to playing a positive role in the communities where we live and work.”
Linsey Proctor, from Fife Gingerbread, said: “We’re grateful to the Amazon team for giving their time and energy and for continuing to strengthen their relationship with us.
“The ideas shared will help us shape our future plans and move forward with confidence.”
Community donations and employee volunteering are just two of the ways Amazon supports the communities where it operates.
Amazon co-founded The Big House Multibank in Fife with former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to support families in need. The Multibank network has now donated more than 8 million surplus goods to over 600,000 families across Scotland, Wales, Greater Manchester, London, Tees Valley and Birmingham.
Amazon has supported more than one million students across the UK with free STEM education programmes through Amazon Future Engineer and helps community organisations transport meals and other essentials to families in need through its pro bono logistics programme, Amazon Local Good.
Amazon partners with Comic Relief and is the official home of the charity’s iconic Red Nose. Together with its employees, customers, and partners, Amazon has raised over £4.8 million to fund projects that support people across the UK, and around the world.
With the summer festivals season fast approaching, the city council is making temporary changes to the way some of our city centre streets operate between Thursday 24 July and Sunday 7 September 2025.
During this busy period the population of our city effectively doubles, which brings challenges for residents, businesses and visitors.
These temporary changes, which include removing or restricting vehicle traffic, are designed to make our streets easier and safer to walk around.
George Street and several streets in the Old Town will be impacted. A full list of streets along with further information is available on our website.
There is also specific advice for blue badge holders, home deliveries, loading and services for businesses, places of worship and special arrangements.
Transport and Environment Convener, Councillor Stephen Jenkinson said: “As we prepare to welcome the world to Edinburgh for our summer festivals, we’re making sure that these higher visitor numbers are managed safely and properly.
“We’ve made temporary changes to our city centre streets successfully during this period for many years and I’m sure that this summer will be no different.
“I’d like to thank our residents and businesses for their understanding and patience as we get ready to showcase and enjoy our city’s unparalleled cultural offering once again.”
NEW 5-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN FOR EVOC
EVOC (Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council) has published a new 5-year strategic plan, outlining the organisation’s vision to contribute to an equitable, sustainable and resilient Edinburgh, supported by a thriving third sector.
The new plan is structured around three priorities – advocacy, capacity building and collaboration – with all areas underpinned by data gathering and research that will be used to inform policy and decision-making.
Data and research will also be used to make on-the-ground decisions with and for third sector organisations in the city.
Bruce Crawford, EVOC’s CEO, commented: “I’ve been in post for 6 months now, and since day one, we’ve been working towards the publication of this new strategic plan.
“To help us achieve our vision, we’re focused on supporting organisations to make local community-driven change.
“We want to use our networks and forums, which sit at the heart of the dynamic between the third sector, public sector and private sector, to bring the voices of the sector together to develop policies that meet the needs of the communities we all serve.”
Established in 1868, EVOC has been committed to improving the lives of people and communities for more than 155 years.
Over that time, the organisation’s priorities and activities have adapted in line with the needs of the people in the city and the third sector, but this new plan has the same ethos at its heart.
Bruce Crawford continued: “Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with people from across the sector to help inform what’s gone into our strategic plan.
“In 2025, there have been a series of challenges that the sector has faced, including public sector funding cuts and increased running costs.
“We’re looking to create some stability by going back to basics – EVOC doing what is right for the sector. So, we’ll be covering a broad range of areas that come under our three priorities.”
EVOC’s strategic plan for 2025 to 2030 is available to read here and you can hear more from Bruce Crawford here.
The UK Spending Review fails to deliver for Scotland, Finance Secretary Shona Robison has said.
Spending levels for public services will fail to offset the impact of proposed cuts to welfare support and the rise in National Insurance contributions, the Finance Secretary warned in response to the Chancellor’s statement.
Shona Robison said: “This Spending Review is business as usual from the UK Government, which is yet again treating Scotland as an afterthought and failing to provide us with the funding we need.
“Today’s settlement for Scotland is particularly disappointing, with real terms growth of 0.8% a year for our overall Block Grant, which is lower than the average for UK Departments. Had our resource funding for day-to-day priorities grown in line with the UK Government’s overall spending, we would have £1.1 billion more to spend on our priorities over the next three years. In effect, Scotland has been short-changed by more than a billion pounds.
“This all comes on top of the UK Government’s failure to fully fund their employer National Insurance increase, depriving us of hundreds of millions of pounds in funding, and their proposed cuts in support for disabled people that will push 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children.
“It is also disappointing that despite apparent briefing to media in advance, we are still awaiting clarity on funding for the vital Acorn project in the North East of Scotland.
“We made extensive representations to the UK Government on our priorities for the Spending Review, including calls for an end to spending that bypasses devolution, but there has been limited opportunity to engage with them.
“It appears that the continuation of local growth funding – which fails to match the European Structural Funds it was supposed to replace – will come directly from Whitehall, yet again bypassing devolved governments.
“We will now take the time to digest the detail of this statement and will set out our formal response on 25 June as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.”
Dear Editor,
The May bank holidays are upon us and train stations are buzzing with travellers and day-trippers. However, for millions of people who are deaf, or have hearing loss, using public transport can be a challenging and stressful experience.
Imagine being on a platform. Passengers suddenly start leaving and you’re not sure why. Or you’re on a train that stops unexpectedly between stations, and you seem to be the only person in the carriage unaware of what’s going on. What should be a relaxing journey can quickly become an anxious and isolating experience. Deaf people often rely on fellow travellers for help.
To mark Deaf Awareness Week (5–11 May), RNID – the national charity supporting the 18 million people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus – has highlighted concerning research showing that the public are often unwilling to assist deaf people when navigating public transport. Whilst many people do want to help – they’re often held-back by uncertainty around how to communicate.
The good news is that RNID’s ‘It does matter’ campaign offers free tips and videos with basic BSL phrases to help people become more deaf-aware and confident when offering support.
This Deaf Awareness Week is the perfect time to learn how you can make a difference. Visit www.rnid.org.uk/it-does-matter
Yours sincerely,
Teri Devine,
Associate Director of Inclusion,
RNID
COUNCIL HOSTS ACCESSIBLE HOUSING SUMMIT
An event held last week (Tuesday 22 April) at the City Chambers brought together the Council and partners to take steps toward building, adapting, and finding accessible homes across the Capital.
Hosted by the City of Edinburgh Council, the Accessible Housing Summit convened representatives from the third sector, housing associations and the private sector.
Through a series of roundtable discussions, participants explored three key areas: delivering new accessible homes, improving access to existing housing, and ensuring the best use of homes already available.
The event builds on insights from the 2022 Accessible Housing Study and feedback gathered from tenants, residents and partners gathered during consultations on the Council’s draft Local Housing Strategy.
In a tangible step forward, the Council recently began construction on a new residential development in Newington. Once complete, the site will provide 19 modern, fully wheelchair accessible homes available for social rent.
Attendees will now consider what actions can be taken forward to address improving access to information, advice on accessible housing and planning for new accessible homes in Edinburgh.
Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener Lezley Marion Cameron said: “As Edinburgh’s population grows and changes, so do the housing needs of our residents. We must therefore strive to ensure that everyone – irrespective of their health circumstances and accessibility requirements – has a home they can live in with dignity and comfort.
“Whilst this is a national issue, the City of Edinburgh Council faces unique challenges, including being landlord of a high number of older, flatted properties which can often be harder and costly to adapt.
“It is vital for us to understand the nature, context, and complexity of the barriers to providing fully accessible housing and to work closely and collaboratively with our partners and organisations leading this crucial work to deliver the accessible housing our citizens need now and in the future.”
