Here since 1969.
Still Leith’s own.

A community centre on the first floor of the New Kirkgate, run by a local charity in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council. Around 3,000 visits a week, and home to more than 120 groups.

Our story

  1. 1969

    Doors open

    On 10 March 1969 the Lord Provost opened a new centre that rose out of the Kirkgate clearances. It filled two floors then, and even had a “beauty culture room”.

  2. 2004

    A new look

    A full refurbishment gave us the spaces we use today: the Sports Hall, a smaller hall, four general rooms, a crèche room and more.

  3. 2019

    Fifty years

    We turned 50 with taster sessions, football, dancing and singing, a family party in the Sports Hall and a do in the Kinnaird Hall into the evening.

  4. Today

    All of Leith

    More than 120 groups use it every week: English classes and a Polish school, a pipe band and roller derby, youth clubs, recovery groups, churches and the Leith Local History Society.

We exist to advance education and to provide and assist in the provision of recreational facilities for the community of Leith.

Our charitable purpose

Who runs the centre

  • Leith Community Centre Association SCIO

    The charity that runs the centre (Scottish charity SC047512). Its trustees manage its day-to-day affairs alongside the centre’s staff.

  • City of Edinburgh Council

    Our partner in running the centre.

  • Our members

    Anyone aged 16 or over who supports our purpose can join. Members meet at least once every fifteen months and elect up to nine trustees.

Not everyone
does the same thing.
That’s the good bit.

Illustrative photograph of adults learning together at a table
Illustrative people photography · participant photography to be commissioned

Different reasons.
The same welcome.

Leith Community Centre is shaped by the people who use it, and run by a local charity in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council.

  • Since 2003

    Leith Community Choir

    Four people who wanted somewhere to sing on a Tuesday. No audition, and two concerts a year.

  • Since 2009

    Forth Valley Taekwondo

    Nine children and a borrowed mat. Grading days twice a year, ages five upwards.

  • Since 2015

    New Scots Language Group

    Free English classes, three mornings a week.

groups every week
70+
visits in an average week
3,000
spaces, all on one floor
8
open every day
7am–10pm

The people
who run it.

Volunteer trustees lead the charity, and a small team runs the centre day to day.

Trustees

  • [Trustee name]

    Chair

    [Two lines: what they do here and why.]

  • [Trustee name]

    Treasurer

    [Two lines: what they do here and why.]

  • [Trustee name]

    Secretary

    [Two lines: what they do here and why.]

Staff

  • [Staff name]

    Centre manager

    [Two lines: what they do here.]

Easy to find,
once you know.

Take the lift or the stairs opposite Lidl to the first floor of the Kirkgate to find us.

Where we are

First floor, New Kirkgate Shopping Centre
12a Newkirkgate, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6AD
0131 554 4750 Get directions

Opening hours

Daily, 7am–10pm

Daily
7am–10pm

Getting here

By tram
The Foot of the Walk stop is a couple of minutes’ walk away.
By bus
Buses along Leith Walk and Great Junction Street stop close by.
By car
There is public parking nearby.

Access

  • Lift to the first floor
  • Stair-free throughout
  • Accessible toilets & hearing loop

Finding the door

  1. Head for the foot of Leith Walk

  2. Go into the New Kirkgate shopping centre

  3. Take the lift or the stairs opposite Lidl to the first floor

  4. Say hello at reception