£314,000 to support community-led dementia projects across Scotland

Over a quarter of a million pounds has been given to 25 dementia projects across Scotland to support the growth of community-led support for people living with dementia, their carers and family members.

Age Scotland’s dementia ‘Encouraging and Supporting Grassroots Activity’ (ESGA) fund is providing a total of £314,662 in community grants to groups across Scotland. 

These grants have been supported by Scottish Government funding, allocated via a National Dementia Resilient Communities Programme Board made up of lived experience voices, local and national partners.

This funding, and the work of the Board, supports the aims of the new National Dementia Strategy, particularly in building resilience and sustainability in community support for people living with dementia and unpaid carers.
 
Funding decisions were made in collaboration with a lived experience panel of people living with dementia and unpaid carers, ensuring that those with first-hand insight played a key role in shaping the allocation of grants. 

The 25 successfully funded projects are:


Beith Community Development Trust (North Ayrshire)
 
Big Hearts Community Trust (Edinburgh)
 
Feniks (Edinburgh)
 
Networking Key Services (Edinburgh)
 
Boots and Beards (Glasgow)
 
Wing Hong Chinese Elderly Centre (Glasgow)
 
Central Wellbeing (Falkirk)
 
Cobhair Bharraigh (Western Isles)
 
Community Connectors (Moray)
 
Connecting Carers (Highland)
 
Raddery House / Inverness Openarts (Highland)
 
Craignish Community Company (Argyll and Bute)
 
Dementia Friendly Aberfeldy (Perth and Kinross)
 
Dementia Friendly Prestwick (South Ayrshire)
 
Friends of Dundonald Castle (South Ayrshire)
 
DG Voice (Dumfries and Galloway)
 
Forget Me Not Club (Aberdeenshire)
 
Inchgarth Community Centre (Aberdeen city)
 
Friends of Kilsyth (North Lanarkshire)
 
North Lanarkshire Muslim Women & Family Alliance (NLMWFA) (North Lanarkshire)
 
Inspiring Communities (Stirling)
 
Lyle Gateway (Inverclyde)
 
Montrose Connections (Angus)
 
Past Times (South Lanarkshire)
 
Peebles Old Parish Church (Scottish Borders)
 
 
Grants of between £5,000 and £20,000 will be distributed by April 2026 and will allow communities to deliver projects and realise the benefits and impact of their work as soon as possible. 


 
Anna Clements, Head of Dementia at Age Scotland, said: “We were blown away by the number of applications and are proud to announce the recipients of one of our largest allocations of ESGA funding to date.
 
“From towns and cities to islands and remote areas in different corners of Scotland, it’s inspiring to see such a diverse range of projects receiving funding to help people living with dementia, their carers, and families stay connected and supported in their communities.
 
“This year we made a conscious effort to ensure a broad spread of grant holders across Scotland, particularly in rural areas and projects supporting people from ethnic minority communities, where access to dementia services can be especially limited and underrepresented.
 
“We look forward to seeing the funding in action across the country and are confident the projects will play a vital role in empowering people to live well with dementia.”

Funded grassroots dementia projects thriving:

The Forget Me Notes Project is a singing group which aims to create inclusive choirs for everyone, including people living with dementia.

The organisation is based in Edinburgh and hosts weekly sessions alternating between Saughton Park and The Salvation Army on Gorgie Road.

It also runs an online Zoom choir which attracts participants from across the UK.

While these choirs had already been running for two years, it was only when funding from About Dementia was secured last year that the choirs became weekly offerings, enabling them to recruit new volunteers to provide assistance to members.

Alan Midwinter, chief executive of The Forget Me Notes Project, said: “The grant was used to consolidate our work and make it consistent, we wouldn’t be able to keep it going as much without it.”

On a warm sunny day Alan says between 70 to 80 people usually turn up at the outdoor Choir In The Park, including many people living with dementia and unpaid carers.

On colder or wet days, the group move into the park’s glasshouse to sing.

Alan added: “People with dementia who attend our choirs get a sense of achievement, community involvement, its inclusive for people who might be genuinely isolated.”

 Root & Rise: Edinburgh Climate Festival 2025

Inspiring climate action through this year’s Edinburgh Climate Festival

As we take in the fearful effects of the worsening climate crisis and the uncertainty that takes hold of the many challenges we are facing around our planet today, looking ahead to a hopeful future can be a very daunting task.

For this, we find great importance & delight in announcing the return of this year’s Edinburgh Climate Festival, a free festival that aims to celebrate & inspirate climate action in our local communities. A day that brings together numerous climate related organisations, projects and individuals, all looking to help positively raise awareness & work towards creating a brighter future!

 The festival will be taking place at the Edinburgh Meadows, Melville Dr EH9 1ND, on Saturday 28th June 2025, from 12 to 7pm.

During the day, attendees can find a variety of free lively performances, workshops, art installations & themed talks, as well as a bouncy castle and activities that welcome everyone of all ages.

The festival will also be welcoming stallholders that cover topics related to circular economy, mitigation, adaptation, climate education, transport, activism, conservation and more. 

As a special feature to the ninth edition of the festival, this year the team have introduced an additional theme: Root & Rise.

The theme represents a call to root in ourselves by grounding in who we are, reconnecting with nature, and prioritising our well-being. The festival defends that just as strong roots support a thriving tree, a deep connection to ourselves and the earth can allow us to rise with strength and purpose.

By truly rooting in nature, we find the power to rise – to embrace new sustainable habits, take meaningful action, and stand together in the fight for climate justice and systemic change. This message is present throughout the event, through visuals and tailored activities encompassing this ethos. 

As an additional attempt to become more sustainable as an event itself, this year the festival is also trialling a few new schemes in hopes to achieve better waste reduction & improve its practices overall.

A few to highlight, is their additional single use packaging fee that will be implemented by all food vendors as well as a free raffle that aims to encourage attendees to bring their own containers, rewarding their commitment by offering a chance to win one of three prizes (which are valued at £60, £50 and £40).

Franciele Sobierai, the ECF Event Coordinator said: “The climate crisis can be daunting, leaving us feeling powerless. However, when we unite, work together, and support one another, we can accomplish far more.

“This is the message the Edinburgh Climate Festival aims to spread — encouraging community-driven climate action and solidarity to tackle the climate emergency.”

The attractions and activities will include various artwork, free yoga, somatic movement, paper-making, dancing, climate stories, musical performances from Airdan Band, Fossilheads, Samba Sene, an energetic Ceilidh & much more!

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage, learn, and celebrate our collective efforts towards a sustainable future! You can find the full programme here

Confirm your presence on the event here, with the option to give a donation here

Volunteering: If you like to get involved in the delivery of the event, the ECF team is looking for individuals passionate about climate and community action to help on the day.

Learn more and apply here: https://forms.gle/uAmyQ4KoucLKkyFQ9

The Edinburgh Climate Festival is brought to you by Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) & Networking Key Services (NKS), through the Communities’ Reduce Reuse & Recycle (C3R) Project.

The festival is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund’s Climate Action Fund and is supported by The University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Napier University.

Edinburgh community groups hit National Lottery funding jackpot

NEDAC RECEIVES £133,000 LIFELINE

Community groups across Edinburgh are celebrating the news of their National Lottery funding today (WEDNESDAY 17 July).  

Over 500 community projects share in this latest round of funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, totalling £17,341,549. The funds will be directed towards bringing local people together and providing essential services across Scotland. 

A full list of successful applicants can be found below.

North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre receives £133,334. NEDAC, (formerly SHADA) who have been based in Muirhouse since 1983, will continue to deliver their service helping people who struggle to engage with mainstream services.

People who are at the highest risk of drug-related death who have long-term substance misuse/mental health issues will be assisted to gain control over their lives.

Drylaw Telford Community Association receives £20,000. The Neighbourhood Centre will use the funding over one year, for their 50 years+ Link Worker.

This project will benefit the over 50s community in North Edinburgh; and in particular those at high risk of being socially isolated.

An award of £19,513 means the Out of the Blue Arts and Education Trust will run a sustainable food project which will recycle food to produce jars of preserves which they will sell to the community and to farmers’ markets.

Rob Hoon, Chief Executive, Out of the Blue, said; “The ‘Preserves’ project is a new and exciting adventure for us, and this funding will allow us to process at least 4,000kg of ingredients per annum to make quality products that extend the shelf life of that food for up to 12 months.

“We will achieve this by producing small batch jams, pickles and preserves embracing traditional methods of preservation.  We will work with people and community groups to support them to make their traditional preserves and gain new cooking skills. 

The Grassmarket Community Project will run a programme of weekly digital skills workshops for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness after an award of £19,763.

Grassmarket Community Project

Helene Van des Ploeg, Chief Executive Officer, Grassmarket Community Project, said: “Digital skills are so vitally important for all of us, whether it just be for connecting with friends or family through social media, writing a CV and applying for jobs or developing skills to open opportunities for employment through accredited learning.  

“We will offer a high-quality service in which members can access new IT skills at any level and tailor the learning to match the needs of the individual and support them to work at their own pace, achieving their goals.  We really appreciate the support that this funding will give us to go ahead with this vital project that will enable our members to flourish in the future.”

Thanks to an award of £63,189, Space at the Broomhouse will be able to extend their opening hours on Saturdays and provide more activities on offer.


Neil, Hay, CEO, Space at the Broomhouse, said: “We know that costs have risen significantly for all charities and community groups in the past few years and wanted to find a way to assist.

“Room hire, especially for smaller groups who do not have their own premises, is a big part of their costs, so we approached The National Lottery Community Fund to see if they could help.

“Thanks to their support we are in a position to offer a whole raft of help to the community, including free use of the halls at Space well into 2025.”

An award of £173,409, will enable Networking Key Services to run an innovative project which will use storytelling to build confidence in talking about challenging topic and issues.

Over the course of the next three years the project will work with hundreds of people from South Asian communities across the city.

Naina Minhas, Director, Networking Key Services, said: “The ‘Breaking Silence and Improving Lives’ aims to empower communities by giving them a collective voice to address issues affecting them. 

“Through storytelling, the project will identify complex challenges and raise these with relevant services to improve quality of live for communities.”

The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “As The National Lottery approaches its 30th birthday it’s wonderful to see how the funding continues to help change lives for the better and just what can be accomplished when people join forces for a shared purpose or to support one another.

“National Lottery players should be proud to know the money they raise is supporting people across Edinburgh to lead happier and healthier lives.”

  The National Lottery Community Fund distributes funding on behalf of National Lottery players who raise more than £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK.     

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk    

Big Swap Event

SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER 12 – 4pm at ST MARTINS CHURCH DALRY ROAD

We are very excited to be involved in another BIG SWAP event at St Martin’s Community Resource Centre, Edinburgh in partnership with our colleagues from Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) and NKS – Networking Key Services💚💚💚

Few key rules before the event:

-Big Swap is a FREE GIVEAWAY of second hand clothes, shoes, books, toys and household items,

-we DO NOT ACCEPT ANY DONATIONS ON THE DAY,

-the event is ABSOLUTELY FREE and everyone is welcome to attend,

-bring your own bags on the day and be respectful of others as all our Big Swaps are really busy and we are trying to accommodate all our service users

Any questions-email: anna@grantongoesgreener.org.uk