Greenlight Funding 2025 - Coming soon!

Greenlight is ECCAN’s annual pot of funding for climate action projects by community groups within the City of Edinburgh. In 2024 we gave out £114,000 to 32 local projects.

GreenLight will re-open for applications in May 2025

GreenLight is designed for small and medium community projects focussed on climate action.

Greenlight will fund local not-for-profit community-led organisations. We can accept applications from individuals on behalf of informal groups. This will apply to micro-grants and have an upper limit of funding. Please refer to the FAQs below.

You can apply for a grant in one of the following categories.

  • Grants of up to £20,000 each (large grants for co-designed projects with partner working) – nominally two awards.

  • Grants of up to £10,000 each (large grants – can be co-designed) – nominally two awards.

  • Grants of up to £5,000 each (medium grants) – nominally 4 awards.

  • Microgrants up to a value of £1,000 each. For individuals or informal groups the limit is £350.

OPENS: May 2025            

CLOSES: To be confirmed.

Who can apply?

You can make your application online or through a paper application form. To apply, you will need to become a member of ECCAN, and to be one of the following: community group (with or without a constitution), registered charity, social enterprise/non-profit, Community Interest Company, Community Benefit Society, or an individual (note you must partner with a group in order for us to transfer funds).

Applications will be assessed on:

* Alignment with the outcomes, outputs listed below

 * Project feasibility, including a clear timeline and budget.

 * Capacity and experience of the applicant.

What does our project need to achieve to be eligible for Greenlight?

Projects should aim to achieve at least one of the following outcomes:

  1. Mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and damaging environmental impacts.

  2. Protect, enhance or increase local biodiversity.

  3. Help communities adapt to and build resilience to climate change.

  4. Raise awareness of, and prompt, action on climate.

  5. Communities, organisations and residents work together collaboratively to address the climate emergency

To help achieve ECCAN’s vision and objectives, we will prioritise projects that:

  • Aim to create long-term change to combat the climate emergency.

  • Build the skills and capacity of groups or organisations and communities. 

  • Support and encourage collaborative working across groups or organisations, communities, and areas.

  • Encourage sustainability through reusing, recycling, and upcycling goods and products. 

  • Encourage climate action and a just transition at a community level

  • Mitigate climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce environmental impact

  • Help communities adapt to and build resilience to climate change

  • Protect or enhance local biodiversity through conservation and promotion

  • Demonstrate equality, diversity and inclusivity values (NCVO have a guide to DEI for charities and community groups here)

Projects should broadly align with ECCAN’s stated outcomes

  1. Awareness – Communities’ awareness of the climate emergency and what actions they can take increases; and communities’ confidence to take action increases. 

  2. Knowledge and skills – Communities’ knowledge and skills to take climate action increases, through collaborative working. 

  3. Capacity – Communities’ capacity to take climate action increases, by increased funding, and by access to equipment and volunteers. 

  4. Decision-making – Communities are more involved in determining local and national government policy regarding climate action.  

  5. Innovation – Communities receive an increased level of benefit from innovations to take climate action. 

Other things to consider

  • ECCAN’s mission statement and values are here – please consider these when designing your projects. 

  • We encourage applications that are led by young people or disadvantaged or minority groups.

  • We value a collaborative approach to a project including a clear indication of how the project is meeting community needs and will have a positive impact across all groups.

  • We encourage collaborative applications that embed the artistic voice and vision in the project.

  • We support applications that consider a sustainable approach to procurement including localism, community wealth building, recycling and re-use.

  • We prefer that any travel expenses would be for active travel (walking/biking/wheeling) or sustainable travel such as public or shared transport.

  • Trees, plants and seeds should be native, responsibly and locally sourced where possible. Tree planting as a standalone project will not be funded.

  • We can fund staff costs towards your new project. If you have any queries please contact us at greenlight@eccan.scot

  • Projects in public, open and green spaces, or residential amenity areas, should ensure that relevant permissions and agreements are in place to carry out the project.

  • We may be able to provide funding for legal ‘direct action’. However, no part of your project should prevent freedom of speech, incite or promote violence or aggression or promote or facilitate illegal activities.

  • We welcome proposals that will help groups leverage wider funding, including match funding. We require applications to identify specific costs that the fund would cover in the context of match funding.

  • We acknowledge that not all projects will be fully outcome based. Whilst we will not directly fund feasibility studies, we are happy to fund projects with short -term outcomes that have a longer term feasibility element built-in.

  • We support the Living Wage and all paid staff working on GreenLight projects should be paid at least the real Living Wage, including sub-contractors and agency staff.

  • There is a limit of <£5000 on nominal capital spend items – equipment such as laptops, machinery, tools etc.

We will not fund

  • Projects which support market-based solutions to climate change such as carbon trading or carbon offsetting.

  • Projects that extend dependence on carbon-intensive processes (increasing carbon “lock in”) for example, the purchase of equipment that uses fossil fuel.

  • Projects which involve any environmentally damaging activities.

  • Projects that involve any activities that directly or indirectly harm, threaten, or negatively affect biodiversity.

  • Projects that prevent or restrict human rights, incite or promote violence/ aggression, or promote or facilitate illegal activities.

  • Projects that do not sit within a community context.

  • Commercial projects that seek to return a profit

  • Projects of a contentious nature where we receive objections from members of the local community.

FAQs

  • To apply, you will need to become a member of ECCAN, and to be one of the following: community group (with or without a constitution), registered charity, social enterprise/non-profit, Community Interest Company, Community Benefit Society, or an individual.

    Your project should be run by local people under their direction and for the benefit of their community and the environment.

    If you are applying as an individual, you need a partner organisation with a bank account who is willing to receive the funds on your behalf.  This organisation should be a local community organisation. If you need help to find a partner, please contact greenlight@eccan.scot.

  • The application process opens in May 2025. We will ensure this is well publicised through our newsletter and social media.

  • Applying couldn’t be easier! Simply click the link and fill out the application form highlighted on this page. Or download the PDF application form from the website and return it to us in person or by post. If you wish us to post out a paper application form give us a call on 07554 439980.

  • You will receive an automated email acknowledging receipt of your application form.

  • ECCAN will contact you by email to confirm the amount and your bank details. Payment is usually made within 7-10 days after we receive the bank details and grant acceptance form.

    Successful projects will be shared on our website with the organisation or group’s name, project description and link to their website (funding amounts will not be publicised).

    Please note that all funding must be spent and projects are substantially delivered by end of March 2025. Your project programme submitted with the application should reflect this clearly. We will NOT accept applications that show delivery beyond this date.

  • Yes up to a maximum of two successful microgrants and/or one large/medium scale project. We wish to fund as many diverse organisations and projects as possible.

  • ECCAN will be running surgeries to help groups with the application process. Please contact greenlight@eccan.scot for further information on surgery dates and locations.
    If any information on this page is difficult to understand we are happy to provide it in other formats, including larger print upon request.

  • Yes learning from your project is part of the ECCAN process. We are interested in hearing about any challenges you faced with your project, and anything that worked well.

    Please do take lots of photos of your project for knowledge sharing and publicity purposes. Please be aware that if you don’t provide feedback and evidence of how you have spent the grant, we won’t able to consider you for grants in the future.

    For medium and large scale projects we ask that participants engage in a bi-monthly sharing workshop with a short written report. The online workshop will comprise a 5 slide PowerPoint (format to be confirmed) – that will be drawn directly from your report. The bi-monthly reports will then be collated into a project end-report by you, looking at challenges, risks, outputs and outcomes. Please refer to the full guidance document for additional information.

    For microgrants, we will ask for a two page PDF report with photos. Broadly speaking this will look at challenges, risks, outputs and outcomes. We love to hear stories as to how the project has made a positive impact on the environment, the community and people’s lives.

    We will issue you with a short form to complete to document how you have spent the money and the impact it has made. Please return this form within 6 months of your funds being allocated. Please send us photographs or photocopies of receipts showing what you have spent the money on.

  • Please contact us to get feedback as to why the previous project didn’t meet the criteria – we hope you will be more successful second time round, if you wish to re-apply. We will work with unsuccessful applicants to increase the viability of projects with merit.

    If we believe there are good synergies between your proposal and others we receive (collaborative opportunities that would enhance the impact of both projects), we will contact you with feedback and the next steps you could follow to achieve a successful application.