04/11/2025
🌿 We’re proud to be part of this exciting new chapter for climate action across Scotland!
Thanks to National Lottery players, YMCA Scotland has received £1,499,382 over 3 years from The The National Lottery Community Fund, the UK’s largest community funder. This investment will support eight diverse local YMCAs — including YMCA Edinburgh — to develop climate action plans and lead local projects that make our communities greener, healthier, and more resilient.
Here at YMCA Edinburgh, our Youth Forum and Playrangers are already actively improving green spaces and driving youth-led climate action — so we’re thrilled to build on this work and take it even further. 🌍
We’ve already completed our first session of the 6 Squid Service Design training and loved it! We can’t wait to use this creative, youth-centred approach as we co-design our local climate action projects with young people and the wider community.
Over the coming months, teams across Scotland will collaborate through workshops, training, and community-led projects — putting climate action at the heart of local life.
We’re also excited to be working alongside inspiring partners like Keep Scotland Beautiful, the World YMCA Learning & Impact Team, YMCA England & Wales Quality & Impact Team, and the University of Edinburgh Innovations Team. Together, we’ll share learning, build capacity, and strengthen the impact of local climate action across Scotland and beyond.
This funding comes from the Climate Action Fund, a £100 million, 10-year commitment from The National Lottery Community Fund to support communities across the UK to take meaningful climate action.
We can’t wait to share our journey — from local workshops to youth-led innovation — as we empower young people to make Leith greener, fairer, and more sustainable. 💚
🌍✨ New Project Incoming! ✨🌍
Thanks to The National Lottery players, YMCA Scotland has received £1,499,382 over 3 years from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK. This investment will support eight diverse local YMCAs across Scotland; YMCA YWCA Cupar, Dumfries YMCA, YMCA Edinburgh, YMCA Glenrothes, YMCA Kilmarnock, Ymca Kirkcaldy, Renfrew YMCA, Tollcross YMCA, to develop climate action plans and lead local projects that make our communities greener, healthier, and more resilient.
Over the coming months, teams in each YMCA will begin training and co-designing projects with their communities. From local workshops to youth led initiatives, this journey will put climate action at the heart of community life.
We’re also excited to be partnering with a range of organisations who bring expertise, innovation and global perspective to the project. Our partners include Keep Scotland Beautiful World YMCA Consultant, the Learning, Innovation and Impact Function at World YMCA, the Quality & Impact Team at YMCA England & Wales, and The University of Edinburgh Innovations team. Together, we’ll share learning, build capacity, and strengthen the impact of local climate action across Scotland and beyond.
This funding comes from the Climate Action Fund, a £100 million commitment over 10 years from The National Lottery Community Fund to support communities across the UK to take action on climate change and involve more people in climate action. This forms part of one of the funder’s four key missions in its 2030 strategy, ‘It starts with community’ - supporting communities to be environmentally sustainable.
This is just the beginning! Follow along as we share updates from training and local stories across Scotland. Together, we can make a difference. 💚
