ECHC's Grants Programme

About our Grants Programme

Thanks to funds raised by our wonderful supporters, our Grants Programme offers funding for projects benefiting children and families.

If you work for NHS Lothian and need funding for a project that goes beyond statutory NHS provision, then we want to hear from you.

Please see our Guidance Notes and Key Messages (below) for information on what we fund and don’t fund. We welcome all ideas and creative solutions, but in 2026, we are particularly interested in receiving applications that will remove the financial barriers and hidden costs of hospital visits that families face.  

Guidance Notes Key Messages

2026 Funding Streams and Deadlines

  • Small Grants (up to £5000) – Rolling, always open
    Decision within 4 weeks
  • Strategic Grants (larger grants £5000+) – 30 June/31 October
    Decision mid-August/mid-December
  • Capital/Medical Grants (£5000+) – 30 June/31 October
    Decision mid-August/mid-December

Grants are reliant on ECHC’s fundraising income and sadly we often don’t have the funds to say yes to every application, as much as we’d like to. If you would like to discuss your idea or proposal before applying, you can contact us on grant.giving@echcharity.org or call 0131 668 4949. We love to chat through ideas to maximise your chance of making a successful application.  

How to apply

  1. Please read our Guidance Notes and check your proposal fits with our funding criteria 
  2. Please read our Terms & Conditions 
  3. Click Apply Now to start your application today! 
    Please note – you will need to set up a Blackbaud ID as part of your application 
  4. Already started?  Click Continue Application to log in to your existing account and continue with your funding application
  5. Unsure of your project, want to discuss your application, or have an issue with your application including logging in to your account? Please get in touch on grant.giving@echcharity.org or 0131 668 4949 
Apply Now
Continue Application

Evaluating your grant

Measuring and evaluation is an important part of the grants process as it allows you to determine what impact you want to have with your project and how successful you have been at the end. It also allows us to see the impact of the grants awarded so that we can share this with our stakeholders and those who fundraise for us.

Please read our guidance notes on how to fill in your evaluation form.

Evaluation Guidance Notes