Edinburgh colonialism project awarded almost £240,000 in Lottery funding

Edinburgh council has been awarded almost £240,000 by the National Lottery to progress work on commemorating the city’s history of colonialism.

In 2022, the independent Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review (ESCLR) was carried out, led by Sir Geoff Palmer, Scotland’s first black professor, who died in June aged 85.

The ESCLR report examined how Edinburgh’s connections to slavery and colonialism are represented in street names, monuments, and public spaces.

It made several recommendations, including creating a touring exhibition on diversity, coordinating a digital campaign around heritage body Unesco’s Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and abolition, and hosting a Decolonising Edinburgh conference.

It also suggested piloting anti-racist learning resources for schools.

The City of Edinburgh Council provided £10,000, and a lottery windfall of £239,746 has been awarded to the ESCLR Implementation Group to “significantly progress” the recommendations of the review.

Council leader Jane Meagher said that in order to become an “inclusive” city, Edinburgh “must continue to confront the uncomfortable parts of our past”.

Chair of the ESCLR implementation group, Irene Mosota, said the legacy of colonialism “continues to shape inequalities”.

The cost of the review by Sir Geoff Palmer was £18,500 to date after the academic was commissioned by the council to chair the review following Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

Ms Meagher said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, this funding marks an important step forward for Edinburgh. If we are to be the inclusive and welcoming city our residents expect, we must continue to confront the uncomfortable parts of our past.

“Whilst we’ve issued a civic apology for Edinburgh’s 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.

“I’m pleased to see work moving ahead and look forward to the progress it will bring.”

Ms Mosota said: “I thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund for this funding, and the City of Edinburgh Council for its continued support.

“Edinburgh 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.

“This 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.

“We 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.”

Caroline Clark, the National Lottery Heritage Fund director for Scotland said: “Thanks to National Lottery players our funding will support the City of Edinburgh Council, in partnership with the ESCLR Implementation Group, to take a considered and collaborative approach to this important work.

“Edinburgh’s historic links to the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism are ingrained in the city’s heritage. This project will develop ways for the city to engage thoughtfully with its past, contextualising and acknowledging these parts of the city’s story.”