Community Intervention Fund

The Community Intervention Fund is currently paused with no further grants being considered for the remainder of the financial year ending 31 March 2024.


The Community Intervention Fund is a capital grant scheme that aims to support community groups/organisations throughout East Lothian with a grant towards the cost of a capital project.

The fund aims to give capital grants to projects that support the delivery of the Council Plan and the East Lothian Partnership’s Local Outcomes:

  • Growing our Economy
    • reducing unemployment
    • improve the employability of East Lothian’s workforce
  • Growing our People
    • improve the life chances of the most vulnerable people in our society.
    • reduce the attainment gap and raise the achievement of our children and young people
  • Growing our Communities
    • extend community engagement and decision making
    • increase community and individual resilience
  • Growing our Capacity
    • deliver transformational change
    • harness the opportunity technology offers in the provision of services.

What can we apply for?

You can apply for funding for any project that would meet the definition of capital expenditure, and can be demonstrated to enhance the value of an asset. “Capital Expenditure” includes:

  • improving the fabric of a building
  • improving access to a building
  • extensions to a building
  • removing hazardous materials as part of a set of works
  • structural repairs
  • putting in fixed items of equipment (e.g. floodlights)
  • carrying out improvements to a public space

The Community Intervention Fund will not provide grants for:

  • any item not deemed to be capital expenditure such as to support on-going running costs of an organisation
  • endowments, loan payments or bank charges
  • projects where the beneficiaries are resident outside of East Lothian
  • the cost of buying a second-hand vehicle
  • activities promoting religion or political beliefs
  • VAT – you may need to pay VAT on purchases you make as part of your project
  • items which will be covered by buildings insurance

About your application

This fund is currently paused with no further grants being considered for the remainder of the financial year ending 31 March 2024.

You can apply for up a maximum of £50,000, or 60% of the total cost of the project, not including VAT - whichever is lower.

Any organisation or community group can apply for funding once during our financial year. This runs from 1 April to 31 March.