{"id":327385,"date":"2025-08-08T08:17:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T08:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/327385\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T08:17:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T08:17:13","slug":"absolutely-crucial-edinburgh-pregnancy-and-parent-centre-facing-closure-after-40-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/327385\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Absolutely crucial’: Edinburgh Pregnancy and Parent Centre facing closure after 40 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Edinburgh charity that has supported expectant families for more than 40 years is facing the threat of closure to a major funding shortfall. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Bosses at the Edinburgh Pregnancy and Parent Centre (EPPC), which provides vital support through classes, workshops, and drop-in groups, says it is struggling to secure the funds needed to keep its services running.<\/p>\n

In response, the centre has launched a crowdfunding campaign<\/a> and submitted an application to Edinburgh Council\u2019s Third Sector Resilience Fund.<\/p>\n

More than \u00a312,000 has been raised so far toward its \u00a340,000 target.<\/p>\n

Staff and service users say the charity plays a critical role in helping new and expectant parents navigate the challenges of early parenthood, especially for those without close family support nearby.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ve made amazing friends through this group\u2019\"BabySTV NewsBaby Lochlan comes to the centre with mum Hanmo STV News<\/p>\n

For Hanmo Zhang, whose parents live in China, the support she received at the hub helped her navigate her first experience of motherhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely crucial,\u201d she told STV News. \u201cI\u2019m an only child, so I had very little support in terms of how to look after a baby and what they do at what stage, what\u2019s okay and what concerns there may be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was properly anxious when I first came here \u2013 but they made me feel at ease.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made amazing friends through this circle and now we can watch each other\u2019s baby grow. Without this group, none of that would\u2019ve happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucy Everett joined yoga classes at the centre during her pregnancy and discovered a welcoming, supportive space.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was something I didn\u2019t know I needed,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really valuable while we figure out this new thing called motherhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got your own friends, but having people here going through the same thing at the same time, makes such a difference to mental health and learning about the experience of having a new baby, especially as a first-time mum.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018They helped me deliver my baby at home\u2019\"BabySTV NewsBaby classes at the Edinburgh Pregnancy and Parenting Centre STV News<\/p>\n

Others credit the centre with giving them the knowledge and confidence to shape their birth experiences.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Lake, for instance, said she was able to have a home birth thanks to what she learned at EPPC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t gone to those groups, my birth would\u2019ve been really different. I\u2019ve learned so much and it gave me confidence. That wouldn\u2019t be possible if we didn\u2019t learn as much as we did.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made the world of difference to feel comfortable with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The centre, which has been based in Edinburgh for four decades, has long been seen as a safe and inclusive space for parents of all backgrounds.<\/p>\n

But now there are fears the charity may not be able to afford to keep these services going.<\/p>\n

\u2018People feel at home here\u2019\"HubSTV NewsHub \u2018welcoming and inclusive\u2019 space for new and expectant parents STV News<\/p>\n

Mum-of-three Daisy Dingwoodie first came to the centre while pregnant 21 years ago and now works there as a yoga instructor and birth educator.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has such fond memories of being here, feeling at home and valued. It\u2019s really connective,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople describe arriving and feeling like they have a community in the first session. We all want to belong and have a place. It\u2019s very inclusive and homely.\u201d<\/p>\n

But escalating costs and dwindling grant funding are threatening its survival.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re struggling to get the funding we used to get,\u201d Daisy said. \u201cGrant funding is competitive and the rates for renting the space have gone up hugely during the pandemic into the current space we\u2019re in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s put us in a situation where we\u2019re losing money rather than staying even.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s become obvious we really need help to stay open. We really need to plug the gap to stay here beyond the 40 years we\u2019ve been around.\u201d<\/p>\n

STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

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Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n

\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Edinburgh charity that has supported expectant families for more than 40 years is facing the threat of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-327385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114992162283871953","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}