Whatever you need we will listen and stick with you for as long as it takes

Community Renewal: Pennywell is Community Renewal Trust’s neighbourhood team in Muirhouse and West Pilton established for over fifteen years. Our aim is simple:

Whatever you want to talk about, we will listen, we will connect you to the help you need, build on your strengths and stick with you for as long as it takes.

Drop in Monday-Friday 10am-4pm or get in touch with our team:
☎️ 0300 365 0025
admin@communityrenewal.org.uk

Community Renewal: Pennywell, 31 Pennywell Rd, Edinburgh, EH4 4PJ

Some of the specific services we can offer are detailed below including work covering employment support, family support, housing/benefits, health/wellbeing and empowering residents, improving the neighbourhood together. We are also part of a number of thriving networks of local partners and can help connect you to their support too, just ask. We are open almost every day – please just come in whether you want to talk about your needs, your family or your neighbourhood.

Our work in includes:

Community Renewal Pennwell Pantry

A more dignified way for local people to access affordable nutritious food and a gateway to getting more help. Our pantry is always looking for new members (from £4.50 per week), more volunteers and more donations.

Next Step Edinburgh

The team can offer employment support, CSCS training and benefits advice (including Universal Credit and Scottish Child Payment). This is mostly only available for unemployed people but we try to support people facing hardship while in-work too. Whether you want quick support with a CV and preparing for an interview or if you need a lot of support to return to work after a long period of unemployment we will be there for you. This is funded by City of Edinburgh Council.

Community Link Workers

Our Community Link Workers are embedded into the local GP practice. They can link people to the support they need in the local community to make them flourish – this is sometimes called social prescribing. To get a referral you need to speak to Muirhouse GP Practice. If you want more information about community services and activities in our local area you can see a guide here. To understand our organisation’s unique perspective on how Scotland could improve community health and wellbeing around Primary Care please click here for more information. This is funded by NHS Lothian.

Giving support and a voice to children and young people or parents

Anyone can come to get support from our team, but we choose to run specialist work for children including meet ups and social activities for our local youth groups. We have set up a youth forum (see the Local Conversation below) to empower young people to have a voice and make a difference in their neighbourhood. We create volunteering roles and paid 6 month work placements for young people to help improve their life chances as well as having a specialist programme for disengaged young people (sadly this is currently on hold). We also offer support for whole families, including a course for parents to get in control of this lives and become peer coaches themselves. This is funded by the People’s Health Trust and Scottish Government.

Support from Caledonia Funeral Aid

Our neighbourhood team can help link local residents up with our city-wide and national programmes tackling funeral poverty by offering community support, affordable cremations and impartial advice on funeral practicalities, funeral costs and the emotional toll of funerals.

Empowering Muirhouse through our Local Conversation

Community Renewal Pennywell recently completed the delivery of the  Local Conversation in Muirhouse (North Edinburgh) in 2023.

Local Conversations is a People’s Health Trust initiative which involves supporting residents to develop a shared vision for their community and take local action on issues that matter to them

To find out more click here.

You can keep up with all our latest news on our Facebook page: