Written by Georgina Bowyer, UKSPF Grants Manager, Capital City Partnership
As well as ushering in falling leaves and the need for extra layers, October also marks the midpoint of the financial year and an important moment in the reporting cycle for those of us managing contracts and grants at Capital City Partnership. In terms of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, we are in the fourth year of the programme, which for most organisations means the third year of funding. The service delivery (revenue) side of UKSPF Edinburgh is a continuation of the previous work allowing for consistency and for organisations to build on what has been achieved since the start of the fund. On the other hand, under the capital (physical improvements) side of the fund, new projects have been selected given the start and finish nature of the previous pieces of work. This blog provides an update on the progress of UKSPF projects at this crucial review point of the financial year.
Under capital, a budget of £250,000 has been allocated towards community centre improvements in Edinburgh and the remaining capital funding has been awarded to projects who had applied to Edinburgh’s allocation of the Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP). This strand of Scottish Government funding has similar aims to UKSPF and was over-subscribed in Edinburgh. The seven projects selected for UKSPF funding include renovation works at Bellfield, which is a B-listed former church in Portobello, owned by Action Porty, a charitable community benefit society. This well-used community space will be further improved by removing fixed pews and installing a mezzanine floor at the bottom of the balcony to create more usable and flexible spaces within the building, increasing usage and conserving energy.
Similar projects are being carried out at the Spylaw Coach House in the Colinton area of Edinburgh, and at The Byre in Duddingston. Both are repurposing historic buildings to create attractive multi-purpose community spaces which will help to increase social connection and deliver health and wellbeing activities. A brand-new adventure playground will also be created in the Wester Hailes area of Edinburgh, designed in partnership with the local community and using natural materials to create an engaging play space for children from the surrounding area, which has particularly high levels of deprivation.
In this new financial year, the “supporting local business” projects continue to thrive. Business Gateway collaborated with Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce to support several local businesses to explore international trade and to build relationships in a new market by taking part in trade missions to Boston or China. Codebase recruited for this year’s Greentech cohort, offering 32 applicants places on the programme which began in early October. Through the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce programme, four companies submitted their B Impact Assessment to B Lab UK for certification, following another two Edinburgh businesses having recently achieved their B Corp certification.
Vintage Vibes, supported through the “Communities and Place” priority, celebrated ten years of activity with a vibrant campaign ‘Ten Years Bold’ which not only marks a decade of volunteers supporting older people through one-to-one befriending and group activities, but also underlines the empowering nature of the work in helping older people to feel themselves again and be part of the community. You can see some of the campaign materials here.
Edible Estates have made significant progress in transforming the previously derelict bowling green in Oxgangs into a large neighbourhood garden, as well as successfully supporting Oxgangs Community Gardeners to become their own registered charity. Empty Kitchens Full Hearts have completed the refurbishment of their packing hall floor and have been working in partnership with U-Evolve to facilitate weekly gardening sessions for young people struggling with their mental health.
The Multiply strand of work has continued this year, now under People and Skills, offering a suite of courses including Digital Skills and an “Our World and Numbers” course at the science museum Dynamic Earth. A total of 350 clients are newly engaged in employability services funded through UKSPF in this financial year, with organisations frequently working with partners and employers to achieve support people into positive destinations. For example, Edinburgh Women’s Aid ran an employability course in partnership with State Street bank, resulting in five participants being offered work, two returning to study, and one setting up her own businesses.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is due to close in March 2026 and will be replaced by the UK Government’s Pride in Place and Local Growth Fund initiatives. Local authorities across Scotland are waiting for further guidance on how these will be implemented, following which plans and processes for their own local delivery will need to be put in place. This leaves current UKSPF-funded projects vulnerable to loss of funding, and many will need to turn their attention to sourcing alternative funding possibilities in the second part of the financial year.
In the meantime, projects across all themes continue to deliver throughout and up until the end of March. We look forward to seeing the capital projects reach completion in the coming months, and to gathering the revenue projects together for a network event in November. To read more about UKSPF-funded projects, you can explore the webpages here.
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