Hopes for 2025

Written by Georgina Bowyer, UKSPF Grants Manager and Jessie Colligan, UKSPF Programme Administrator

There are some significant challenges in the funding landscape for third sector organisations at present and some difficult unknowns as projects try to prepare and plan for the new year ahead.  In the face of continued strains on the cost of living, services are seeing consistent need amongst their communities.  There are no easy solutions and sadly the loss of some projects will have an inevitable impact on those communities they have been serving in the years to come.

Whilst this is not something to be brushed over, it is also clear that the determination and resilience of the third sector continues which is hugely encouraging.  It also reflects the strength and resolve that we see amongst the people and communities who have often found their way through difficult times and are carving new paths for themselves with the support offered by services around the city.

Reflecting the positivity and ambition shown by projects and their participants, a few of the UKSPF-funded services have shared with us their hopes for 2025:

Edible Estates Home - Edible Estates

The investment and focus given to community gardening through the Growing Together project has had a diversity of impacts. We hope 2025 will bring further increases to people's physical and mental well-being, community connections, resilience and improvements to their environment. In the words of a participant “Getting more spaces in the area started with planters/raised beds would not only make the place look better but will bring joy to more people and a sense of pride in the area we live”.

The Challenges Group Challenges Group | Enterprising solutions to global challenges

In 2025, we hope our programme, Making Work Work – for Edinburgh Women continues to break barriers and unlock potential. Over two years, we've empowered over 100 women to rebuild their confidence and move towards or into meaningful work following a career break.  Our hope is for sustained funding to help even more women reclaim their careers while amplifying awareness of the invaluable talent women returners bring.

Together, we can champion flexible, inclusive work and dismantle employment barriers, proving that with support, every woman can make a meaningful contribution, and we can build a future where no talent is left untapped.

Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce

Our hope for 2025 is to continue to support Edinburgh businesses on their net zero journey by helping them calculate their carbon impact and create net zero plans. We want to continue to educate and inform businesses on the importance of sustainability by hosting events, creating case studies and articles and sharing experiences from local companies.

We want to support more net zero and B Corp cohorts so that organisations put sustainability at the forefront of their business operations. This support is vital as highlighted by the Scottish Whisky Experience “The support from the team has been invaluable to provide a structure and focus in the area of sustainable development, in all its meanings, and planning a pathway to net zero.”

Spartans Spartans Community Foundation

We are hugely excited as the build enters its final phase, with handover due in the coming weeks. The new Education and Youth Work space promises to be an integral part of life for many young people in the north of Edinburgh. We are #HereForGood.

We wish you all a hopeful new year, and look forward to continuing to work with you in 2025.