First Greenlight Small Grants Awarded

ECCAN is delighted to announce the first projects to receive funding through this year’s Greenlight Fund’s small grants.

The Greenlight Fund supports community-led projects that help communities across Edinburgh respond to the climate and nature crisis. This year, we split the Greenlight Fund into two funding streams. Projects requesting up to £5,000 are reviewed and awarded by ECCAN on a rolling basis, helping successful projects get started sooner. Projects requesting £5,001–£20,000 continue to be decided through our community voting process.

Following an exceptional level of interest, we have now begun awarding funding to the first successful applicants. These projects are the first of many, and we will continue making awards until the small grants budget has been fully allocated.

Due to the high number of applications received, new applications for grants of up to £5,000 will close in one week’s time (on the 14th July). If your organisation or community group has been considering applying, we encourage you to submit your application before the deadline.

Now, we’re delighted to share the first projects receiving Greenlight funding and the positive impact they’ll soon be making across Edinburgh…

🚲 BANZAI Bikes

Weekend Wheels will expand access to BANZAI Bikes’ community cargo bike library through regular weekend hub sessions, volunteer training, new partnerships and community events.

Funding will help more people discover the benefits of cargo bikes for everyday journeys, support active travel, and make the bike library more accessible to communities across Edinburgh through partnerships with local organisations.

🌱 North Edinburgh Arts

North Edinburgh Arts will deliver a nine-week community biodiversity programme in its newly redeveloped garden.

Working alongside local volunteers, staff and community groups, the project will include planting sessions, biodiversity activities and community engagement to help people connect with nature while creating a richer habitat for wildlife.

🍲 Edinburgh Can B

Greenlight funding will support Edinburgh Soup, a welcoming community event where local people share a meal, hear short pitches from grassroots projects and vote for the idea they would most like to support.

By creating an accessible, informal space for collaboration and conversation, Edinburgh Soup helps new ideas grow while strengthening connections between communities across the city.

One Week Left to Apply

These projects highlight just some of the inspiring ideas emerging from communities across Edinburgh. We look forward to announcing more awards over the coming months as further applications are approved.

Applications for Greenlight grants of up to £5,000 close in one week’s time (on the 14th July). Awards will continue to be made until the available funding has been fully allocated, so if your organisation or community group has a project that could help communities respond to the climate and nature crisis, we’d encourage you to submit your application before the deadline.