Long running Leith Chooses online PB voting underway
Leith Chooses, (branded at £LeithChooses) in Edinburgh council has moved to the online voting phase after its public voting event. 30 projects are in the shortlist for this year. They are each seeking a grant of up to £5,000 from a pot just under £45,000.
£eith Chooses is one of longest (if not the longest) PB grant making processes in the UK. Over that time nit has evolved its model, and its success is directly inspiring the new commitment of Edinburgh City Council for spoending £2m or funds expected to be generated through the Edinburgh visitor levy. Online voting is open between the 27th January and the 10th February 2026.
In January 2026 the Edinburgh Peporter published information that will help to encourage local residents to take part. And the £eith Chooses website says:
“You can vote if you are 8 years or over, and you live in Leith, work in Leith, or volunteer or go to school or college in Leith. Please DO vote! You will be voting for funding for projects that can improve well-being within the Leith community. The live Voting Day at the Leith Community Centre in the Kirkgate is Saturday 24 January 2026.”
The full list of 2026 projects on offer is displayed at this link.
£eithChooses was started in 2010 (and was known as ‘£eith Decides’ at that point), pioneered then by Councillor Maggie Chapman and City of Edinburgh council officer Lorraine Duckworth. The LeithChooses project is led by the Steering Group in conjunction with the City of Edinburgh Council’s Community Empowerment and Engagement team.
It is a way of getting funding (from the City of Edinburgh Council ‘Community Grants Fund’) to community groups and charities in Leith, for projects that will benefit the local community in Leith. It’s a yearly process. Every summer there is a call for applications. Applications for funding need to be in by the late autumn each year ,and are then processed. Then every January, a vote is held so that the local people in Leith can vote for which projects they think should get funded (because, sadly, there is not enough money for ALL the projects that apply). The projects receiving the most votes win the funding they applied for.
Read about £eith Chooses on their website
Read the 2026 report from the Edinburgh Reporter