01 Identity
Scottish charity record
- OSCR charity number
- SC020655
- Status
- Active
- Regulatory type
- Standard
- Designated religious body
- No
- Geographical spread
- Wider, but within one local authority area
- Volunteers
- 1-50 volunteers
- Staff
- 12
- Postcode
- EH7 4LZ
02 Purpose and work
What the charity exists to do
Working with families living across the city of Edinburgh, Firsthand Lothian delivers 1:1 tailored support to children and young people with disabilities. A worker /volunteer is matched with each child/young person, meeting up together for 3 hours every week for 6 months, doing activities and exploring new places etc which help the child/ young person achieve sustainable change. Firsthand Lothian also offers 3 strands of support for parent/ carers - Health and Well being Sessions, Parent and Carers on line meetings and short term 1:1 support to help isolated parent/carers explore and access activities and places of interest locally, going with them until they are confident to attend alone and have begun to develop new networks of support of their own.
Charitable purposes
- the relief of those in need by reason of age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
Beneficiaries
- Children or young people
- People with disabilities or health problems
- Other defined groups
Activities
- It carries out activities or services itself
Constitutional objectives
The Objects for which the Service is established are to promote the welfare of and to provide relief and support for disadvantaged and vulnerable families including parents and carers of children with disabilities in Edinburgh and its environs by:- (a) Providing a family support service (b) Providing a health and well-being service (c) Providing a befriending service (d) Providing any other family support services as required by families or other agencies working with families. (e) Promoting, providing and supporting volunteering opportunities for the mutual benefit of volunteers, children, parents and families (f) Providing a sitter service (g) Providing opportunities for education and training for volunteers (h) Gathering and disseminating learning (i) Engaging in any other activities which promote the aforesaid objects and are deemed by law to be charitable.
03 Annual returns
Income and expenditure history
| Year end | Income | Expenditure | Staff | Return received |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2025 | £200,948 | £161,264 | 12 | 1 July 2025 |
| 31 March 2024 | £164,917 | £168,616 | 12 | 19 June 2024 |
| 31 March 2023 | £205,177 | £155,697 | 12 | 22 June 2023 |
| 31 March 2022 | £101,270 | £160,746 | 12 | 23 August 2022 |
| 31 March 2021 | £191,242 | £156,767 | 12 | 6 September 2021 |
Figures are those reported by the charity and supplied in the OSCR bulk download. Blank facts remain distinct from zero.
04 Contact record
Principal office or trustees address
- Address supplied to OSCR
- Strathmore , 8b McDonald Road
- Website supplied to OSCR
- www.firsthand-lothian.org.uk
- Parent charity
- Not supplied
No direct external links on this profile. The official OSCR record and source documentation are available through BritDB’s dedicated source page.
05 Provenance
Source for this profile
© Crown Copyright and database right 2026. Contains information from the Scottish Charity Register supplied by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. BritDB is an independent service and does not claim to be the Scottish Charity Register.