Keeping Edinburgh Warm campaign
Watch our animated video for a visual journey of the campaign, from fundraising to grant making; hearing the stories and experiences of financial insecurity amidst the rising costs of living.
“Every month I use my overdraft and I don't have any idea how to clear it. It’s like a catch 22. I need to think every day about food cost and energy bills which affect our social life and it’s really difficult with two children.”
When you really think about the words “cost of living” it brings the injustice of these times into sharp focus.
The cost of living.
The cost of the bare minimum.
The cost to just keep going.
In Edinburgh today, the shadow of poverty stretches wider and deeper than ever before. As prices rise, families are cornered into impossible financial choices.
This isn’t just hardship – it’s destitution, where the basics of life such as food, clothing and housing are unaffordable – and it’s happening all over Scotland.
As a charity whose vision is to see a UK where everyone has the financial security to thrive, how do we respond when for so many, even survival itself is so hard fought?
“I work full-time as a carer and I struggle for money every month. I have to walk 45 minutes to my shift rather than taking the bus to try to save money. This is exacerbated as I also send money to my mother as she provides child support to my son.”
We know the impact a cash grant can make to someone. We’ve made over 5000 grants to people in Edinburgh over the last 10 years and we’ve seen the ways grant making can empower and transform lives.
So in late 2022 we launched the Keeping Edinburgh Warm campaign to help us create a new fund in response to the spiralling costs of living. We raised a little over £11,000 from public donations.
We wanted to work with a partner organisation in the city who could then help us get this money into the pockets of the people of Edinburgh who need it most.
A trusted community partner who could help us deliver cash grants, with dignity.
That partner was Shakti Women’s Aid, an organisation working to support Black minority ethnic women and their children, who are fleeing domestic violence.
In Autumn 2023 Shakti helped us to distribute the first £10,000 of funds raised by the campaign. 100% of that money has been distributed as direct cash grants.
Together, we were able to provide 40 women with a grant of £250 each to spend how they needed.
- Geographically, the grants were received across 14 of the 20 city of Edinburgh postcode areas. The largest proportion (33%) lived in EH7.
- 62% of the grantees had children and of those women, 92% were lone parents.
- 40% of grantees were Asian, 18% were Black, 28% were Arab, 2% identified as other, 5% as mixed. 8% were white.
- These 18% of grantees who had no income had No Recourse to Public Funds.
- 15% of grantees identified as disabled, 38% identified as experiencing physical ill health and 55% identified as experiencing mental ill health.
Capturing the journey of this project is about more than just numbers and statistics. We wanted to hear the voices of the women supported by Shakti and for them to tell their story and their experiences and impact of the rising costs of living.
“Due to domestic abuse from my parents, I left home. I feel very isolated and can't afford paying a bus ticket twice or three times a week to go out and see my friends. I need to choose between food, paying for service charge or meeting my friend”.
“I work as a carer part time, and I am really struggling with the increase in the cost of living. I need to pay energy bills and mobile phone and food. I am trying to save money to pay all the bills but always I use my overdraft just to break even”.
“I am on benefits, and I am struggling with cost of living, all the food prices have increased so much that you cannot survive on benefits alone”.
“Everything in stores is pricey to purchase, and the money I earn is insufficient to pay my bills and for necessities”.
“Due to the cost of living, I have to cut back on the number of meals I have in a day. If I purchase all the food from benefits, then there will be no money left for bus travel, emergency or my service charges”.
Our fundraising in Edinburgh is ongoing, as we continue to work with our partners with the shared ambition to eradicate poverty in the city. To learn more about our programmes of work please go to the Turn2us website.
Thank you to the women that received these grants and for sharing their thoughts and feelings with us.
Thank you to all who donated to the Keeping Edinburgh Warm Campaign.
Thank you to all the staff at Shakti Women’s Aid for helping us to distribute these funds.
Thank you to Hazel Marshall for narrating this video.
Thank you to all who volunteered to read the words of the women who received our grants: Iffah Hossain, Imelda Utuk and staff at Shakti Women’s Aid. Maggie Chiwanza an Kavita Chand at MECOPP.
Animated and directed by Holly Summerson.
Sound production by Ems Harrington.
Produced by Ems Harrington and Hannah Lawson at the Edinburgh Trust.
Music by Trygve Larsen from Pixabay.
I am struggling with the cost of living. Bus fares have increased, food has increased, basic toiletries have increased, bills have increased. Sometimes I get so fed up and upset of this whole situation. I am having to reduce the amount of meals I have in a day, walking to save bus fares.
In today's Edinburgh, the phrase "cost of living" crystallises the injustice of our times, highlighting not just the bare minimum expenses, but the relentlessness to simply survive.
It's not merely hardship; it's destitution, where essentials like food, clothing, and shelter become unattainable for many across Scotland. As a charity committed to envisioning a UK where everyone can thrive financially, how do we address the profound challenge when survival itself becomes an arduous battle for so many?
Our Keeping Edinburgh Warm fundraiser represented what can be done when communities come together. In partnership with Everyone's Edinburgh, we reached out to the people of Edinburgh, asking for their support to aid those of us who were hit hardest by the escalating cost of living. Many of you donated what you could, this enabled us to extend grants to those who really needed it.
Together, we raised over £11,000. Through our partnership with Shakti Women’s Aid, we channelled £10,000 of these funds into providing cash grants to 40 women and their families, many of whom lacked access to public funds.
To bring you this visual journey documenting the impact of our community fundraising and grants we worked closely with Edinburgh-based animator Holly Summerson, who has beautifully captured our collective and community efforts.
Our Keeping Edinburgh Warm fundraiser is now concluded. However, Edinburgh Trust remains dedicated to collaborating with our partners in Edinburgh, to help eradicate poverty in the city.
We continue to work hard to engage with individuals with lived experience to ensure our grant-making remains as effective and impactful as possible.