Community Grants Scheme Application Form
Our Community Grant scheme funds projects that will have a positive social impact for local communities. Projects are more likely to be funded if they contribute to one or more of the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
- 1 No Poverty;
- 3 Good Health and Wellbeing;
- 4 Quality Education;
- 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth;
- 10 Reduced Inequalities;
- 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities.
Find out more about the Sustainable Development Goals (opens new tab).
You can interpret the goals in a way that makes sense for your project.
Your project should benefit and involve people living in one of more of the following areas: the City of Edinburgh, Fife, West Lothian, Midlothian, East Lothian, Scottish Borders.
Your project should also develop positive relationships between the University and your community organisation. If your organisation doesn’t already have links to the University, you can provide any ideas you have in your application.
For this round, you can apply for up to £5,000.
You should aim to start your project around four months after the deadline. We would normally expect projects to last around six months. If you think your project needs to last longer, we will consider exceptions.
Before completing this form
Please make sure you read the separate guidance notes in full before completing your application form.
Guidance notes (opens new tab)
Make sure that you are also happy with the Terms & Conditions that will apply if your application is successful. These include keeping in touch and completing a short report within one month of your project ending.
Terms & Conditions (opens new tab)
Submitting your application
There are maximum character counts for some questions.
By the deadline, make sure you have completed the following steps:
- Complete this online form in full and press ‘'submit”. You can save your progress and come back to finish your application at a later stage. If you do this, make sure you use the same email address.
- Complete the anonymous equalities monitoring form. This helps us make sure the scheme is meeting the needs of everyone that could benefit from it. Your responses cannot be linked to your application. If you need this form in another format, please contact us. Equalities monitoring form (opens new tab)
Alternative formats
If you require application materials in an alternative format, please email local@ed.ac.uk (opens new tab) or call 0131 651 5000, or ask a friend or family member to do so for you.
If you do not have access to email, you can post your application to: Community Engagement Team, Department for Social Responsibility & Sustainability, The University of Edinburgh, The Boilerhouse, High School Yards, Edinburgh EH1 1LT.
Are you eligible to apply?
Before proceeding with an application to the Community Grant scheme we ask that you review the following list to ensure your organisation is eligible to apply. We will not fund:
- Straight continuation of ongoing projects. You can apply for an ongoing project but you must illustrate that you are proposing to change your project in some major way i.e. you're genuinely trying out something new
- Standard for-profit organisations
- Organisations with an annual income of more than £1 million
- Individuals/Sole Traders
- Organisations without an organisational bank account
- Companies without a governing document. We may ask for a copy of your governing documents
- Organisations whose only charitable objective is the promotion of religious or political beliefs
- Organisations experiencing severe financial difficulties or those at risk of administration or bankruptcy
- Statutory bodies, including schools. We will fund organisations that work with statutory bodies and activities happening on the premises of statutory bodies (e.g. after school clubs). We will also fund Community Councils as these are voluntary organisations (albeit set up by statute)
- Projects aimed directly at supporting staff or students. Staff and students from any local university can apply but must do so through an organisation (e.g., student society) and must be working with and for local residents, including residents who are not currently students
- Renovations or other building work