July at ECCAN: Greenlight Updates, Festival Highlights and Opportunities Across the Network

It’s been another busy month across the ECCAN network, with Greenlight funding reaching another exciting milestone, our Big Give campaign, festival season in full swing, and plenty of opportunities to get involved in community climate action across Edinburgh.

Thank you for supporting our Big Give campaign

A huge thank you to everyone who supported ECCAN during our first ever Big Give Small Charity Week campaign.

Together we raised £1,401, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who donated. Every contribution helps strengthen community climate action across Edinburgh, with around 70p of every £1 donated going directly towards future Greenlight funding.

Although the campaign has now ended, donations can be made through the ECCAN website all year round to help support future community-led climate projects.

Greenlight reaches another milestone

Greenlight continues to gather momentum, with both funding streams making significant progress this month.

Community voting closes this week

Voting for Greenlight grants of £5,001–£20,000 closes on Friday 10th July. ECCAN members still have time to help decide which larger community climate projects receive funding this year.

Successful applicants will be notified during the week beginning 20th July, with funding announcements following shortly afterwards.

First under £5,000 awards announced

We’re also delighted to announce the first organisations to receive Greenlight grants of up to £5,000:

• BANZAI Bikes – Weekend Wheels, expanding access to cargo bikes through weekend hubs, volunteer training and community events.

• North Edinburgh Arts – a nine-week programme improving biodiversity through community gardening, planting sessions and climate awareness activities.

• Edinburgh Can B – Edinburgh Soup: A Warm Bowl of Community Support, bringing people together through welcoming events that support a more inclusive, fair and environmentally sustainable city.

The response to this year’s fund has been exceptional. As a result, applications for grants under £5,000 will close on Tuesday 14th July, allowing us to focus on processing the large number of applications already received. Applications already submitted will continue to be reviewed over the summer.

We’re also continuing to raise funds for Greenlight and hope to reopen this funding stream later in the year if additional funding becomes available.

Looking back at a year of Greenlight projects

We’ve recently published all of our 2025–26 Greenlight funded projects on the ECCAN website. Take a look here.

The collection showcases the breadth of community climate action taking place across Edinburgh, from biodiversity and food growing projects to active travel, repair initiatives, arts and culture, youth engagement and community resilience. Many of the featured projects are still running, with opportunities for people to get involved.

We’re moving to Humanitix

We’ve recently moved our event bookings to Humanitix, a social enterprise that donates 100% of its profits from booking fees to education projects around the world.

Many organisations across the ECCAN network are already using Humanitix, and we’ve shared more about why we made the switch, along with a simple getting started guide for anyone considering moving their own events across.

What we’ve been up to

Inchcolm Ark

ECCAN was delighted to support Inchcolm Ark, a remarkable artistic response to rising sea levels that brought together more than 100 participants.

From the ferry journey to the final performance around Inchcolm Abbey, the event demonstrated the powerful role creativity can play in helping people connect with place, reflect on climate change and imagine the futures we want to protect.

Climate Bites

June’s Climate Bites took place outdoors in George V Park, where members of the network came together over a shared lunch to connect, exchange ideas and strengthen relationships across Edinburgh’s community climate movement.

Our next Climate Bites will be hosted by Mwamba at the Heart of Newhaven on 23rd July, bringing together people from across the network for another informal lunchtime conversation.

Festival season

The ECCAN team spent much of June out meeting communities at The Meadows Festival, Forth and Clyde Canal Festival and Edinburgh Climate Festival.

These events provided a fantastic opportunity to introduce new audiences to the network, celebrate community climate action already happening across the city and connect with organisations and residents interested in getting involved.

Opportunities across the network

Alongside ECCAN’s own events, July brings another packed programme of activities from across the network.

Highlights include:

• A community screening of The People’s Emergency Briefing hosted by The Outsiders.

• Heritage grain events at Lauriston Farm, including Band of Rogues and Sunday Stroll in the Grain.

• Outdoor Yoga by Bike with Porty Active Travel Hub.

• Talks exploring climate impacts on seabirds at Bridgend Farmhouse.

• Seasonal community walks with Duncan Place.

• Weekly repair sessions from SHRUB and Edinburgh Remakery.

• Starting Point: An Introduction to Creative Climate Action, hosted by Culture for Climate Scotland.

• A wide range of climate-focused talks and events at Fringe by the Sea.

Funding, jobs and volunteering

There are also a wealth of opportunities currently available across the network, including:

• Greenlight grants of up to £5,000 (closing 14th July).

• Funding from the Wildlife Trust, Edinburgh Community Solar Co-op, Royal Company of Merchants and SafeDeposits Scotland.

• Community roles with ELREC, Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, Edinburgh Remakery, Garvald and Rhyze.

• Volunteer opportunities with Gorgie Community Farm, SCOREscotland, Edinburgh Remakery and Goodies.

Help shape the future of Climate Bites

We’re currently reviewing our Climate Bites programme and would love to hear from people who have attended previous sessions.

Whether you have ideas for future themes, venues or activities—or you’re an ECCAN member interested in hosting a Climate Bites event—we’d love to hear from you.

As always, thank you to everyone across the ECCAN network who continues to build a greener, fairer and more resilient Edinburgh.

We’ll continue sharing news, funding opportunities, events and inspiring community projects throughout the month, so keep an eye on our website and social media channels for the latest updates.