{"id":658189,"date":"2025-12-27T17:29:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T17:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/658189\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T17:29:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T17:29:25","slug":"council-secures-grant-to-progress-slavery-and-colonialism-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/658189\/","title":{"rendered":"Council secures grant to progress slavery and colonialism work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE City of Edinburgh Council, in partnership with the independent Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review (ESCLR) Implementation Group, has been awarded a grant to progress slavery and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deadlinenews.co.uk\/2025\/09\/15\/edinburgh-university-in-talks-to-return-skulls-taken-coercively-to-africa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">colonialism <\/a>work.<\/p>\n<p>An ESCLR report published in 2022 and led by the late Sir Geoff Palmer examined how Edinburgh\u2019s connections to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deadlinenews.co.uk\/2025\/10\/24\/lesson-plans-launched-to-teach-slavery-in-scottish-schools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">slavery <\/a>and colonialism are represented in its street names, monuments and public spaces, and how this history continues to shape present-day inequalities.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the funding of \u00a3239,746 courtesy of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deadlinenews.co.uk\/2023\/01\/11\/scots-highlands-museum-set-for-1-4m-boost-from-national-lottery-fund\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Lottery Heritage Fund<\/a>, hopes to accelerate the progress on the report\u2019s outstanding recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>These include public engagement, education and the development of future approaches to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deadlinenews.co.uk\/2025\/04\/07\/penicuik-heritage-regeneration-project-exceeds-aims-report-finds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">heritage<\/a>, interpretation and commemoration.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.deadlinenews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/adam-wilson-ktDODr-3tvY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?ssl=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-dominant-color=\"726656\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #726656;\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"464\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/adam-wilson-ktDODr-3tvY-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@fourcolourblack?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Adam Wilson&lt;\/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/calton-hill-edinburgh-united-kingdom-ktDODr-3tvY?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;\/a&gt;\" class=\"wp-image-1253167 not-transparent\"\/><\/a>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@fourcolourblack?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adam Wilson<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/calton-hill-edinburgh-united-kingdom-ktDODr-3tvY?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Key planned activities include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recruiting a full-time project officer and forming an advisory group<\/li>\n<li>Hosting a\u00a0Decolonising Edinburgh Conference\u00a0and an\u00a0open symposium<\/li>\n<li>Developing digital platforms to support engagement and transparency<\/li>\n<li>Creating a small\u00a0touring exhibition\u00a0on diversity in Edinburgh\u2019s cultural and heritage activity<\/li>\n<li>Delivering a\u00a0community research project\u00a0and a series of consultation workshops on built heritage<\/li>\n<li>Piloting learning resources for schools and anti-racist educators<\/li>\n<li>Coordinating annual stakeholder meetings and a digital campaign around UNESCO\u2019s Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As part of its commitment, the council has also provided\u00a0\u00a310,000\u00a0and significant in-kind support to help realise the project\u2019s ambitions.<\/p>\n<p>Council leader Jane Meagher said: \u201cThanks to National Lottery players, this funding marks an important step forward for Edinburgh. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we are to be the inclusive and welcoming city our residents expect, we must continue to confront the uncomfortable parts of our past.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhilst we\u2019ve issued a civic apology for Edinburgh\u2019s historic role in sustaining slavery and colonialism, the project allows us to go further and become an example for how a city can face up to its slavery and colonial legacy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m pleased to see work moving ahead and look forward to the progress it will bring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chair of the Implementation Group, Irene Mosota, said: \u201cOn behalf of the Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Implementation Group, I thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund for accepting our bid and ideas, and for this funding, and the City of Edinburgh Council for its continued support. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdinburgh is acknowledging the impact of its past and recognising that the legacy of slavery and colonialism continues to shape inequalities today and into the future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis funding will enable us to work with communities and institutions across the city in open and honest reflection and dialogue, not to reopen old wounds, but to help us understand our shared responsibility and how we move forward together with compassion, equality, and justice. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe recognise the trust placed in us to carry forward the work begun by Sir Geoff Palmer, and we hope this work will offer a meaningful example of how cities across the UK can address historic legacies with care and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline Clark, the National Lottery Heritage Fund director for Scotland said: \u201cThanks to National Lottery players our funding will support the City of Edinburgh Council, in partnership with the independent Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Implementation Group, to take a considered and collaborative approach to this important work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdinburgh\u2019s historic links to the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism are engrained in the city\u2019s heritage. This project will develop ways for the city to engage thoughtfully with its past, contextualising and acknowledging these parts of the city\u2019s story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE City of Edinburgh Council, in partnership with the independent Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review (ESCLR) Implementation&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,201235,1102,201236,201237,201238,4884,97126,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-658189","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-colonialism-scotland","10":"tag-edinburgh","11":"tag-edinburgh-heritage","12":"tag-edinburgh-slavery","13":"tag-edinburgh-slavery-and-colonialism-legacy-review","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-national-lottery-heritage-fund","16":"tag-scotland","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658189","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=658189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}