Latest news with #ThirdSectorResilienceFund
STV News
6 days ago
- Health
- STV News
'Absolutely crucial': Pregnancy and parents centre facing closure after 40 years
An Edinburgh charity that has supported expectant families for more than 40 years is facing the threat of closure to a major funding shortfall. Bosses at the Edinburgh Pregnancy and Parent Centre (EPPC), which provides vital support through classes, workshops, and drop-in groups, says it is struggling to secure the funds needed to keep its services running. In response, the centre has launched a crowdfunding campaign and submitted an application to Edinburgh Council's Third Sector Resilience Fund. More than £12,000 has been raised so far toward its £40,000 target. Staff and service users say the charity plays a critical role in helping new and expectant parents navigate the challenges of early parenthood, especially for those without close family support nearby. STV News Baby Lochlan comes to the centre with mum Hanmo For Hanmo Zhang, whose parents live in China, the support she received at the hub helped her navigate her first experience of motherhood. 'It's absolutely crucial,' she told STV News. 'I'm an only child, so I had very little support in terms of how to look after a baby and what they do at what stage, what's okay and what concerns there may be. 'I was properly anxious when I first came here – but they made me feel at ease. 'I've made amazing friends through this circle and now we can watch each other's baby grow. Without this group, none of that would've happened.' Lucy Everett joined yoga classes at the centre during her pregnancy and discovered a welcoming, supportive space. 'It was something I didn't know I needed,' she said. 'It's really valuable while we figure out this new thing called motherhood. 'You've got your own friends, but having people here going through the same thing at the same time, makes such a difference to mental health and learning about the experience of having a new baby, especially as a first-time mum.' STV News Baby classes at the Edinburgh Pregnancy and Parenting Centre Others credit the centre with giving them the knowledge and confidence to shape their birth experiences. Elizabeth Lake, for instance, said she was able to have a home birth thanks to what she learned at EPPC. 'If I hadn't gone to those groups, my birth would've been really different. I've learned so much and it gave me confidence. That wouldn't be possible if we didn't learn as much as we did. 'It made the world of difference to feel comfortable with it.' The centre, which has been based in Edinburgh for four decades, has long been seen as a safe and inclusive space for parents of all backgrounds. But now there are fears the charity may not be able to afford to keep these services going. STV News Hub 'welcoming and inclusive' space for new and expectant parents Mum-of-three Daisy Dingwoodie first came to the centre while pregnant 21 years ago and now works there as a yoga instructor and birth educator. 'Everyone has such fond memories of being here, feeling at home and valued. It's really connective,' she said. 'People describe arriving and feeling like they have a community in the first session. We all want to belong and have a place. It's very inclusive and homely.' But escalating costs and dwindling grant funding are threatening its survival. 'We're struggling to get the funding we used to get,' Daisy said. 'Grant funding is competitive and the rates for renting the space have gone up hugely during the pandemic into the current space we're in. 'It's put us in a situation where we're losing money rather than staying even. 'It's become obvious we really need help to stay open. We really need to plug the gap to stay here beyond the 40 years we've been around.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Scotsman
16-05-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
Third sector gives council a tough fund balancing act
Across Edinburgh we are blessed with many valuable community organisations and voluntary groups that bring people together, keeping them active and healthy. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In Craigentinny and Duddingston the most obvious is the Ripple Project but the range spans Edinburgh's different demographics as shown by the Eric Liddell Community in Morningside and Pilton Equalities Project to name just a further two. The Ripple Project tackles poverty and inequality in Restalrig, Lochend and Craigentinny. Collectively the council calls these groups the 'Third Sector'. Many raise some of their own funds while others rely on various public grants or contracts from the council or the NHS – almost becoming delivery arms for the state. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Last year the funding for 70 of these groups was cut by the joint NHS and Council Board that oversees health and social care in Edinburgh. This week saw further agonising at the council about that funding gap. NHS Lothian, short of funds through Scottish Government decisions, has effectively passed the buck to the equally cash strapped council, which is far more susceptible to community campaigning, being democratically elected. This state-organised cost and blame shunting led the council, with good intent, to allocate £3.5m from reserves to stave off the crisis, but as always there is no real plan. On Monday councillors agreed to allocate £3m, with most of it being described as the 'Third Sector Resilience Fund'. Except there is no 'resilience' because it will all run out again next March just as council is looking for further savings across its own budget. A parallel review of the council's 'approach to supporting the Third Sector' will report later this year, but it is very hard to see how this will fill the gap without more money that just isn't available. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad You might think, as I suggested, that the £500k of one-off funding left over might be best used to cushion any rationalisation this review proposes. Instead, it was easier for most councillors to agree to spend it immediately by opening it to bids from wider groups who haven't even had a funding cut. This creates a double danger of raised expectations of ongoing funding, with more failure when it doesn't materialise. It is also dreadful politics because it will make the public outcry worse when the reckoning inevitably comes. Ultimately, the council must decide what services are most needed in communities within the budget it has available. But with local groups all lobbying for their own continued existence, that's a hard decision that most councillors will avoid. The danger is that the council makes cuts to its own services and still fails to fund local groups strategically. They will then go under at random, leaving communities without the support they need.
