Guidelines & Timelines - For Community Organisations

 

*We recognise that the Fund presents a new way of working for all of us, and to this point, this is a living document that will be updated as we move through the phases of the Fund. (Updated March 2025)

  • The following information (Guidelines & Timelines) can also be downloaded as a PDF HERE

  • We are aware that there may be unfamiliar words and terms within this information so we are developing a ‘glossary’ (a regularly updated alphabetical list of the meaning of special, unusual, or technical words or expressions used in our documents and communications) available HERE. If you are reading this and there are words or phrases you don’t understand please email the team at erff@foundationscotland.org.uk and we will add this to the glossary.

What is Regenerative Futures Fund?

The Regenerative Futures Fund is a ten-year community fund for Edinburgh that puts decision-making power into the hands of those who are most often excluded. This fund is designed by and for people in their own communities. The funding will give grassroots organisations, collectives and movements the opportunity to think and plan for the long-term, tackling the root causes of poverty, racism and the environmental crisis.

 

How did we get here?

In 2022 a wide network of funders, campaigners, local authority leaders, grassroots organisations and facilitators came together around a vision for a new long-term, unrestricted fund for Edinburgh.

Everyone involved joined the project with an openness to the idea that change is needed in grantmaking if we are to ‘end poverty’ and ‘be climate ready’ in Edinburgh by 2030.

For some, this openness stemmed from commitment to deep transformation in grantmaking models, and for others, it was more a curiosity and willingness to explore how we might collaborate to shift decision-making power and resource long-term, regenerative work.

During 2022 and 2023 a network of people and organisations worked together to co-design and fundraise for a £15 million ten-year, pooled fund for the city (a pooled fund is where multiple funders collaborate and contribute money into a separate entity with a focus on a particular place, theme or issue).

By the end of 2023 we had co-designed the fund and produced an operational plan. In 2024 hosting moved to Foundation Scotland and by early 2025 the team was in place – Aala Ross joined Leah Black as Co-Head, and Andy Hyde joined as Participation Lead.

What are the goals of the Fund?

The Fund will:

  • Support organisations and collectives to work on long-term solutions to the complex problem of tackling the root causes of poverty, racism and the environmental crisis.

  • Engage with local authority leaders, funders and others to learn and collaborate with funded organisations on shared objectives and wider system change

  • Support a more diverse and experience-informed group of voices to shape change and direct resources towards the programme goals

  • Create new solutions to long-term entrenched challenges faced by Edinburgh and its diverse communities

  • Which will mean that:

  • Edinburgh residents see improvements in their financial security, future prospects, and natural environment, with a more tolerant society in place

  • Residents living in poverty in Edinburgh are empowered to play a central role in improving the lives of people living in poverty and experiencing racism. They increase their skills and confidence, and their influence, either through new paid roles or setting up or joining in campaigns/movements, and

  • Movements and grassroots community organisations have the resources and networks they need to develop a powerful voice in Edinburgh, and the space to imagine a better future and begin to shape it

What will be funded?

This programme is for movements, collectives and grassroots organisations who are committed to the deep and long-term work needed to address the root causes of and the intersection between poverty, racism and climate change and to create spaces for people to collectively imagine and build towards a regenerative and just future for Edinburgh. 

The fund will be delivered in two phases – capacity building (funding for approx. 25 organisations) followed by the 10-year fund (funding for 10-15 organisations).

The fund specifically seeks to fund movements, collectives and grassroots organisations that might otherwise be excluded from funding, while prioritising potential for impact and centring equity in decision-making.  To that end, we are open to funding organisations across the spectrum of development (from new, unconstituted groups, to older, established organisations).

Which organisations are eligible?

  • Collectives, movements and grassroots organisations located in the City of Edinburgh, with strong links to local community

  • Collectives, movements and grassroots organisations working locally to address the root causes of poverty, racism and/or climate change (and the intersection of these issues)

  • Collectives, movements and grassroots organisations committed to collaborating with others through a programme of shared learning and imagination activities throughout the 10-year programme

  • A minimum threshold of 50% of the full cohort of funded organisations will be led by Black and People of Colour

Which organisations are ineligible?

  • Organisations and projects focused on the replacement of statutory services that the council or other public sector bodies should be delivering

  • Organisations and projects whose primary purpose is the furthering of a religion (although faith groups can participate as community organisations in collectives working to the fund’s aims)

  • Organisations whose work is focused outside of the City of Edinburgh (boundary is defined here)

What level of funding will be awarded?

Regenerative Futures Fund will fund 10-15 organisations over ten years and start making grants in 2025.

In Spring 2025 around 25 organisations and collectives will be invited to take part in Phase One, a capacity-building programme with development grants of up to £10,000. This phase is designed to ensure that organisations can take their time (and be funded during this phase) to work out what they need to have in place to be ready for a 10-year programme. This will differ for each organisation and will respond to individual organisational needs.

Following the capacity-building phase, 10-15 organisations will go on to Phase Two and will be offered funding at a level of up to £100,000 a year for 10 years (2025 – 2035).

Regenerative Futures Fund is designed to be delivered in two phases to ensure that organisations - that will include movements and grassroots organisations who have many barriers to accessing funding processes - are ready to take on long-term funding.

The funding process is planned as follows:

Applying for Funding – Step by Step

  • Step 1: Check if your organisation is eligible via the self-recommendation form (Feb–22 April 2025).

  • Step 2: Organisations that meet all eligibility requirements will be invited to, with support as required, to submit written expressions of interest (May 2025).

  • Step 3: 20-25 organisations will be selected for and funded to participate in a capacity-building phase* (approx. June to September 2025) [decisions made by lived experience panel]

  • Step 4: 10-15 organisations will be awarded 10-year funding by end of 2025 [decisions made by lived experience panel]

*Note: capacity-building phase will include group training sessions as well tailored support for individual organisations to get them to the point of being able to submit a full application for funding, while helping each organisation meet Foundation Scotland eligibility requirements.

How will decisions be made?

A group of Edinburgh residents with lived experience of poverty and racism will be recruited in early 2025 to lead on funding decisions.

Guided by specialist advisors and the Regenerative Futures Fund team, this lived experience group will use a consensus decision making approach to select organisations to be funded, making decisions for both Phase One (capacity-building) and Phase Two (10-year fund).

While the group is being recruited, an Early Decision Group with professional experience in relevant fields is advising the team on early decisions.

How can organisations get involved?

During the Fund’s co-design stages, participants spoke about the challenges that small, grassroots and diverse-led organisations face when trying to access funding to sustain their organisations.

The fund will have a process where organisations complete a simple eligibility checker, that they can access below or may be referred by partners within the Regenerative Futures Fund network. This form will be open from February until April 2025. Eligible organisations and collectives will then be invited, with support if required, to submit a written expression of interest in April 2025.

Here is the link to the self-recommendation form for organisations and collectives: Regenerative Futures Fund - Self-Recommendation (for community organisations)

We will run some online info sessions, dates to be arranged. To receive updates on info sessions and more, join the mailing list - Foundation Scotland and/ or send questions to erff@foundationscotland.org.uk. Based on emails and questions asked at the info sessions the team will publish and update a live Frequently Asked Questions page on the Regenerative Futures Fund website.

What happens if the funding target is not met?

These timelines are dependent on reaching the £15 million overall target by winter 2025. The intention is to launch the 10-year programme in winter 2025 and based on success and interest from funding partners to date the team are confident that this is achievable. However, there is a chance that outlined timelines in this document will shift accordingly based on progress towards the overall target.

Resources and Further Reading

 

Excerpt from Learning Report on Co-Design: what should people keep in mind as we move forward?

  • Do not underestimate the importance of fun. Trust has been a very important feature of this work, and building trust over time usually coexists with you having fun together – building trust over time results in you having fun together.

  • Work in the open. Continually making sense of things in real time together is inspiring and more productive. Keep learning from others too.

  • Be ambitious. If we are to meet the moment that we are in, it is important to take risks and try different things. It will be challenging for the fund if it feels like it is bearing the weight of the crisis we are in. Do not slip into ‘business as usual’ or use the fund in a way that it’s not intended for – i.e. to plug gaps in funding. And push back if a deepening crisis leads to thinking that the mission or this way of working is decadent. 

  • Expand the ecosystem. It is important that more residents across Edinburgh have power within the process and that a wider range of skills and experience are built in, particularly around regenerative practice and improving the natural world.

  • Elevate the collective vision. Managing the complexity of different investors and views will probably be a balancing act. It is important to stay focused on maintaining a collective vision around the fund and what success/impact looks like, whilst also being open to change and growth.

Reading & Inspiration

Systems Change, Futures, Long-Term and Upstream Thinking

Collective Imagination

Working in the Open

Working in the open – sharing developments and learning as they happen – has been an important element of developing the programme. This has been done through blogs, interviews, podcasting, and talking at events, and will continue through the next stages.

Here are a few examples:

Who is working on this?

The team working on this are Aala Ross (Co-Head), Leah Black (Co-Head) and Andy Hyde (Participation Lead). Please direct any questions about eligibility to erff@foundationscotland.org.uk – this is monitored by Aala, Leah and Andy. The Regenerative Futures Fund is hosted by Foundation Scotland, and the Regenerative Futures Fund team are part of the wider team at Foundation Scotland.

Who is funding this?

Regenerative Futures Fund is a pooled fund contributed to by a range of funders. A pooled fund is also sometimes called a ‘funder intermediary’ or a ‘funder collaboration’.

The funders involved in the co-design of the fund and in progressing proposals towards the pooled fund, to date, include a mix of philanthropic foundations, a community foundation, a lottery distributor and local government.

The overall fund target for Regenerative Futures Fund in Edinburgh is £15 million to be reached in 2025 in order to launch the 10-year programme.

To date, we have reached the initial £5 - £6 million target to launch Phase One and currently have £5,765,000 million committed, including:

  • £1 million from Turn2us Edinburgh Trust (£100,000 a year for 10 years)

  • £250,000 from Foundation Scotland

  • £2 million from The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland (£200,000 a year for 10 years)

  • £500,000 from Esmee Fairbairn Foundation (£100,000 a year for 5 years)

  • £1 million from The Robertson Trust (£100,000 a year for 10 years)

  • £1 million from City of Edinburgh Council (£100,000 approved for 2024/2025, and 2025/2026 and in-principal commitment for £100,000 a year for a total of 10 years)

  • £15,000 from William Grant Foundation (£15,000 focused on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning in 2024/2025)