The Turn2us Edinburgh Trust

A fund offering support to people who are struggling financially in the City of Edinburgh.

The Turn2us Edinburgh Trust

Situated on Rose Street, in the heart of the city, The Edinburgh Trust is part of UK charity Turn2us and has over a decade of experience in giving direct financial support to people experiencing financial insecurity in Edinburgh.

As part of our core vision, we work in collaboration with other organisations to move towards the shared mission of ending poverty in Edinburgh by 2030. We aim to deliver financial support across the city to improve the lives of Edinburgh’s citizens who are experiencing, or are at risk of, poverty.

The Edinburgh Trust grants have been a lifeline for many people across the city over the last ten years. Through our growing network of referral partners, we've been able to help thousands of people to access cash grants.

Many people seek financial support after having had a difficult time in life such as being without a job (either long or short term), living with a physical or mental illness, going through a relationship breakdown, or because of one of many other life shocks or circumstances that leave them financially insecure.

Below you will find out more about how we can help and how to apply for one of our grants.

Learn more about the Edinburgh Trust on our About Us page.

Turn2us Edinburgh Trust Information

How we can help

The Edinburgh Trust could help in several ways:

Providing a one-off grant
Completing a welfare benefits check to ensure someone is receiving all they are entitled to.
Signposting to other sources of support.

People come to us for grants for many different reasons. We have given grants for household items, clothing, help with everyday living costs, training courses and more.

Who can apply?

Applicants must:

Live in the City of Edinburgh Council local authority area (EH1-17 and 28-30)
Receive welfare benefits or earnings that result in an annual household income that is below £16,000.
Have a low (or no) amount of accessible savings or money.
Not be a full time undergraduate or post graduate university student.

How do I apply?

We work with organisations across Edinburgh to distribute our grants. This means you will need to be in contact with one of our referral partners to make an application.

The referral partner will be someone who provides support or advice through a charity, housing association, or the council, for example a:

Support worker
Social worker
Welfare advisor
Debt advisor
Health visitor
Advocacy worker
Housing officer
Anyone carrying out a similar role to the above, within an organisation

It might be that you are in contact with an organisation who hasn’t applied for a grant from us before, so if that is the case, they could become a referral partner by getting in touch with us and registering on our website.

We work with organisations so that our grants are provided alongside other support and advice, in order to make greater, longer-term impact. We do recognise that not everyone experiencing poverty has or wants access to wider support, but as it is core to our work to partner with other organisations to help end poverty in Edinburgh, we believe in the importance of working collectively to help improve and uplift peoples’ situations.

If you are in an individual in financial need, please read more about applying for an Edinburgh Trust Grant.

If you are an organisation, please read more about how we work with Referral Partners.

Edinburgh Trust contact details

Edinburgh Trust

Check benefit entitlement

Find out what means-tested benefits you might be entitled to, including tax credits.

Use the Benefits Calculator

Grants Search

Search our database of grant-giving organisations

Search for grants

Information and help

Read our benefits and grants information pages and find out what other support is available.

Access our information and help pages