Established in 2002, The BIG Project has been providing educational, social and recreational opportunities for children & young people in Broomhouse, South West Edinburgh for 24 years. When The BIG Project was first established, the area of Broomhouse was commonly known as ‘Little Bosnia’ as the community had long been suffering high numbers of youth crime and it had at the time the highest number of youth calls to Police in the city. Vandalism, underage drinking, drug misuse, fighting and low aspirations amongst young people meant something had to be done to give children and young people a feeling of safety on the streets and it was at this point The BIG Project was launched beginning life as The Broomhouse Intervention Group. At the beginning, our organisation worked across the wider area utilising St David’s Church and Hall, Oaklands School, St Joseph’s Church Hall, Sighthill Community Centre and Broomhouse Primary School before officially moving into Broomhouse Primary School’s new campus a year later.

Over the years, The BIG Project has run Youth Clubs for different age groups including the first local Girls Football team back in 2004, ‘Grow’ projects which have helped young people gain new skills in outdoor activities and community projects such as ‘The BIG Mural Project’ in which young people’s art was used to cover up graffiti in the area and promote positive change. We also run regular residential breaks giving young people who would not have otherwise been able to do so the opportunity to gain new experiences and spend more quality time to grow and learn with others.

Music has always been a large part of our work here at The BIG Project. Starting with ‘BIG Radio’ and ‘Fame Academy’, these initiatives quickly grew into wide reaching and highly successful projects such as ‘The BIG Tour’, ‘The BIG Choir’ and various musical productions which saw the young people write and develop their own songs, work with professional musicians and perform in from of esteemed audiences such as the Usher Hall and The London 2012 Olympic Opening ceremony.

Alongside these specialised groups, The BIG Project continues to run weekly club nights for ages 8-18 including ‘Roots’, ‘Tuesday Club’ and ‘Seniors Club’. We also currently run a weekly drama group as well as a range of exciting holiday programmes.

Over the past 24 years, The BIG Project has contributed hugely to improving the lives of local children and young people. They have valued relationships with local families and are now the major provider of services for local children and young people living in Broomhouse. Their credibility with the local community is high and are regarded as the local go to organisation for Children and Young People's services.

‘‘Broomhouse has changed dramatically for the better when I first moved to Edinburgh. It has a stronger sense of community and that must be part and due to the hard work of the Big Project’s staff and volunteers who have supported and nurtured the young people of the area for the last two decades.’’ Gordon MacDonald, MSP

OUR HISTORY