Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council

EVOC

History of Charity and Civic Action No Responses »

Apr 032019

Vantage Point on Castle Esplanade today

Castle Esplanade, Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH1 2NQ

Facing north-west from our vantage point here, a monument on Castle Esplanade, you are looking towards the current offices of EVOC on Ferry Road. The modern day evolution of the Edinburgh Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, EVOC is the first point of contact for the third sector (voluntary and non-profit groups) in Edinburgh. Their mission is to support the third sector to build and enable resilient, sustainable, and inclusive communities and they carry out this mission in a number of ways including providing training for third sector organisations and developing partnership approaches, principles, and practices. Over the years, branches of EVOC and its predecessors’ work have been so successful that they have gone on to form independent bodies in their own right. One example of this is Volunteer Edinburgh. A register of people interested in volunteering was first created in 1920. This resulted in enterprises such as the UK’s first Volunteer Job Shop in 1975 before what is now Volunteer Edinburgh registered as an independent organisation in 2000.

EVOC office at 525 Ferry Road today

EVOC Staff Team, Christmas 2018

Photo credits: Lucy Ridley, Yasmin Duncan

City Chambers

History of Charity and Civic Action No Responses »

Apr 032019

City Chambers today

253 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1YJ

The City Chambers are the civic headquarters of Edinburgh City Council. Members of the public can attend most meetings of the Council, Committees, and Sub-committees. Completed in 1761 and designed by the architect John Adam, the building was originally a merchant exchange. However, merchants preferred to do their business in taverns in the High Street so, in 1811, the Council took over the building. A civic reception was held here to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Edinburgh Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor, along with a service in St. Giles Cathedral, a Fashion Show, a Ball and a Yule Fair. On the 19^th April 2018, Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council (EVOC) celebrated their 150^th anniversary with a reception in the Scottish Parliament.

City Chambers today

Protest at City Chambers, date unknown

City Chambers, date unknown

Protest at City Chambers, 1980s

Photo credits:Lucy Ridley, EVOC

New Curious Edinburgh tours

On October 23 we will be officially launching our newest tour on the History of Witchcraft in Edinburgh during an event at the Edinburgh Futures Institute starting at 3pm. Please register here and hope to see you there!

On International Women’s Day 2024, we launched a new tour featuring locations in Edinburgh connected to amazing women in STEM. Celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion in STEM by taking a look at Edinburgh-connected women who have made an impact in a wide range of STEM fields.

Check out our new bird trail! We are currently working on the development of coastal trails, in collaboration with Traveltech for Scotland and the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy Scotland’s Coastal Knowledge map. Here you can upload your own experiences of the coast, including birds you have spotted.

Last year we added the Second World War tour developed by academics from the schools of Social and Political Science and History, Classics and Archeology.