£eith Chooses 2023: Leithers have two weeks to vote for their favourite projects

Each year £eith Chooses distributes grant funding to local groups and organisations to carry out meaningful community projects.

Voting for £eith Chooses 2023 is officially open, with 20 community projects in the running this year that people can vote for. This year’s theme focuses on supporting and protecting the most vulnerable in the Leith community and for the next two weeks (until January 29) Leithers have the opportunity to vote for their favourite projects.

To be eligible to vote you must be over eight years old and live, work, study or volunteer in Leith. You can vote for up to four projects.This year’s funds were provided by the City of Edinburgh Council which allocated £46,102 from the Community Grants Fund, the Port of Leith Housing Association donated £3,000 towards the worthy cause and £5,000 was donated by the Trams to Newhaven project.

For full details of the projects and information on how to vote online or by post visit www.leithchooses.net

Leithers can vote for their favourite community projects from January 16 - 29. This year's theme focuses on protecting the most vulnerable in the Leith community.

Project: Pulse of the Place

Organisation: ARTS Afternoon

The project will deliver free Samba drumming workshops in Leith, with participants working towards a performance at the Leith Gala in the summer as well as a Christmas event. The project will offer two blocks of workshops for young people in Leith and Ukrainian children from Hermitage Park and Victoria Primary School.

Project: Insight to Ukraine Event

There are 20 projects in the running for grant funding this year. One project proposal from Edinburgh Community Food and Leith Walk Police Box plans to create an on-street mini cooking venue for people on lower incomes. Photo: Edinburgh Community Food

Organisation: Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB)

The AUBG will deliver a day of celebration that brings the Ukrainian and Leith communities together developing community links and supporting integration. The event will celebrate Ukrainian cuisine and culture, include artistic performances and community activities.

Project: Food and clothing bank

Organisation: Central Leith After School Provision (CLASP)

CLASP will create a food and clothing bank, providing families with everyday necessities and help the most vulnerable communities in Leith with the tools to aid positive mental and physical health.

Project: Citadel Young Company – Community Stories

Organisation: Citadel Arts Group

The project will deliver free weekly drama sessions for children to enhance wellbeing, self-expression and social skills. The sessions will be divided into three age groups: P1 to P4, P4 to P7 and S1 to S4. The sessions will culminate in a performance at Pilmeny Youth Centre.

Project: Summer programme

Organisation: Dr Bell’s Family Centre

The project will support vulnerable families in Leith over the summer period, delivering a four-week long holiday programme in Summer 2023 for families and children. Each week of the month-long programme will explore a different theme: Wellbeing, cooking, being active and being creative.

Project: Leith Breakfast Club

Organisation: Edinburgh & Lothians Out of School Care Network (ELOSCN)

The project will provide a Breakfast Club for primary school aged children in Leith, helping working parents obtain affordable childcare. ELOSCN will also provide 25 funded sessions per week in the first year.

Project: Take It Slow

Organisation: Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC)

The project will encourage people from all cultural backgrounds in Edinburgh to take a slower, more meaningful approach to life and find pleasure in the little things. Activities include art sessions, plant-based cooking workshops and nature walks.

Project: Bite-size cooking at Leith Walk Police Box

Organisation: Edinburgh Community Food and Leith Walk Police Box

The project will create an on-street mini-cooking venue, providing monthly one-to-one cooking sessions for vulnerable people that focus on utilising the simplest of equipment to prepare nourishing food.

Project: The Leith Pantry

Organisation: Edinburgh NE Foodbank

The Leith Pantry is a three-year project being developed by the Edinburgh NE Foodbank. The project adopts a preventative approach to reduce food insecurity and poverty, promoting dignity, choice and hope for vulnerable members of society. The grant will help maintain stock levels in the first year and increase membership.

Project: Connecting Communities

Organisation: Edinburgh Remakery

Edinburgh Remakery launched their Community Club last year to improve people’s mental health, encouraging them to take part in activities and reconnect with their community. Funding will allow more people to join the community club, offering a range of creative activities and a hot meal.

Project: Solar-powered little free library charging points

Organisation: Edinburgh Tool Library

The project will help tackle fuel poverty by building two solar-powered charging stations within a secure area of a community centre for people to charge their phones and devices. Visitors are encouraged to read a book and access other useful information when visiting the library.

Project: The Edinburgh Wheels Ukraine welcome events

Organisation: Edinburgh Wheels

The project will help create a programme of events, providing a warm welcome to the Ukrainian community displaced by the war. Five events across six months will include employability, music, food, sports and socialising to integrate into the community.

Project: Munch and Crunch

Organisation: Hermitage Park School Association

‘Munch and Crunch’ will help combat food poverty by providing a piece of fruit for every school child, every day for a full term. This will support children through the cost of living crisis, making sure that the misery of hunger does not hold any child back at school.

Project: Leith Academy School of Football

Organisation: Hibernian Community Foundation

Working with pupils form S1 – S3, the programme aims to develop social and academic skills of young people during their first years of high school whilst working in a football environment. Pupils will also visit the Learning Centre to complete workshops on nutrition, sports science and employability.

Project: Charms of Leith

Organisation: Himalayan Centre

The Himalayan Centre aims to improve deprivation and poverty for the local community, Nepalese community and ethnic minorities through education, arts, languages and cultural and heritage exchange as well as provide awareness of communication and understanding.

Project: Free dance socials

Organisation: House of Jack

House of Jack will provide free weekly dance sessions for one year for adults and children with additional support needs who are unable to take part in regular classes. The programme offers significant benefits to the community, providing access self-expression through dance.

Project: Leith Connected

Organisation: Leith Community Centre Association

Working with a range of organisations in Leith, the project will deliver community events that help people get connected. The wide-ranging programme will include social activities, food and workshops to provide money saving advice.

Project: Girls’ & Women’s Group

Organisation: Sikh Sanjog

The project will introduce a young girls and women group and provide a safe, inclusive and fun environment for them to meet and socialise. Activities will focus on arts and crafts, self-care activities and outdoor trips.

Project: Free swimming lessons

Organisation: Warrender Baths Club

The project will deliver swimming lessons to senior school pupils at Leith Academy who are unable to swim. Funding will provide a second coach so that focussed attention can be given to new Ukrainian pupils who do not speak English.

Project: Creative minds Leith: art therapy for children’s health and wellbeing

Organisation: YMCA Edinburgh

The project will deliver art therapy workshops to vulnerable children and young people living in the Leith, many of whom have experienced childhood trauma and whose families face financial barriers to access appropriate supports.