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You have agreed upon an idea to
help residents’ adopt green measures at home or
improve their local environment, now you need
the money to make it happen. The first place to
go is to your landlord, most Housing
Associations and Local Authorities provide
funding advice and grants to help resident led
initiatives. Talk to your housing and council
staff and check out their web sites.
Other sources of good advice and support
Funding Services
Government grants and information lists
The Lottery
Funding Updates and Funding Searches
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Access Funds - free funding information
website
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Association of Charitable Foundations
concentrating on charitable trusts and
foundations. It has useful advice on
applying to trusts, facts and figures about
UK trusts and foundations and links to
websites of charitable trusts.
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The Charities Information Bureau offer
good practice guidance on how to fundraise
successfully and offer a low cost monthly
update to voluntary groups.
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If your landlord or residents’ group is
interested in offering funding advice and
searches you can purchase software packages
for funding for groups and funding for
individuals from
Funder Finder. They also offer useful
free to download
budgeting software for community groups
and
grant application for individuals.
Residents’ Groups
Funding for local authority
tenants
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Tenant Empowerment Programme
- Right to Manage Grants - England
The Tenant Empowerment Programme (what was
the section 16 grant) is now being managed
by the Housing Corporation and supports the
Government's housing aims of increasing the
effectiveness of housing management and
improving the quality of life of residents
living on local authority estates. The
programme enables local authority tenants to
access independent advice, training and
information directly. To find out more
contact visit the
Housing Corporation.
Energy
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For specialist advice on funding for energy
efficiency, renewable energy and green
transport funding advice visit the
Create website, a not for profit
organisation helping others to combat global
warming.
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The
Energy Saving Trust
offers a
comprehensive list of funding for energy
efficiency and renewable energy initiatives
and a free funding advice email or telephone
service.
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Community Action For Energy offering a
free funding advice service and funding
training.
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The Low Carbon Buildings Programme
offering grants to the cost of installing
renewable energy systems for individual
householders and for community project
buildings and estates.
Black Environment Network
Landfill Tax Credits
Young People
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Most county and city Youth and Community
Services offer small grants for youth
project development and may even have some
specifically focussed on helping the
environment. Talk to your local youth
service department.
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Other useful organisations:
The Princes Trust - offering youth
groups and individual grants and volunteer
help.
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The Groundwork Trust working with
communities to improve their local
environment
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The British Trust of Conservation volunteers
offering environmental training and funding
advice
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Here to Help Awards
Save the Children and British Gas have
launched a new round of their funding
scheme, the ‘here to HELP’ Awards, to fund
projects that help make where young people
live a healthier, more engaging, safer place
to be. The ‘here to HELP’ Awards are
designed to get young people in Great
Britain more involved in their communities
through speaking out on issues which affect
them and get them more involved with local
decision making. Over three years Save the
Children and British Gas want to fund 300
projects across Britain. Groups of young
people can apply for up to £1000 to start a
project that they feel will address a need
in their community. The next deadline for
applications is the 20th October 2006.
Community Directory
Useful grants for community projects
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Breathing Places, a
lottery and BBC funding initiative
offering grants from between £300 to £10,000
to constituted groups to transform neglected
land into wildlife friendly community
spaces. Phase two applications accepted in
Autumn 2006.
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Awards for All a lottery grant of
between £300 to £10,000 to constituted
groups for projects that benefit the
community.
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The Neighbourhood Initiative formally
The Quest Trust. Offering information and
advice on community development including
transport and the environment. Runs a
telephone conferencing training and
consultation programme including sessions on
fundraising.
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Big Lottery Fund – Community Buildings -
England
Open for applications until 30 April 2007.
Minimum grant: £50,000 Maximum grant:
£500,000
The Community Buildings programme will give
communities the chance to improve their
quality of life by funding buildings that
are economically, socially and
environmentally sustainable. The programme
will pay for creating and improving
facilities that offer a wide range of
services and activities to a broad range of
local people. They want to fund buildings
that will promote community interaction and
self-help. They hope that these buildings
will continue to serve communities in years
to come while minimising their negative
effects on the environment. Community
Buildings is mainly a capital-funding
programme for to cover the cost of building
your project, not running it. You can apply
to the Community Buildings programme if you
are a voluntary or community organisation, a
parish council or a church-based faith
organisation. For more information visit
Big Lottery Fund
or phone the Big Advice
Line on 0845 4 10 20 30.
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Village Core Programme
The Village Core Programme
supports the establishment of community
owned shops in rural communities in England
that can become viable and sustainable
community enterprises. This includes the
establishment of a new community owned shop
or saving an existing shop by transfer to
community ownership. The programme provides
a start-up grant of up to £20,000 per new
enterprise conditional on at least
equivalent contributions being raised from
the village community and through a loan
from Co-operative and Community Finance, a
recognised Community Development Finance
Institution (CDFI).
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Heritage Lottery Fund
Parks for People (£250,000
and £5million) This three-year joint
initiative between Heritage Lottery Fund and
the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) helps with the
restoration and regeneration of public parks
and gardens, including squares, walks and
promenades in England. Funding for parks in
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will
offer same the opportunities and use the
same assessment processes as in England, but
will be managed solely by the HLF. You can
apply for a grant of between £250,000 and
£5million. Project Planning Grants of up to
£50,000 are also available. It includes
parks, gardens, squares, walks and
promenades. Although they expect most
applications through this programme to be
led by local authorities, they welcome
application from other not-for-profit
organisations that own public parks.
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WRAP
Behavioural Change Local Fund Is offering
event kits and web based resources to help
groups encourage recycling in their
community. Each kit will contain a selection
of standard ‘essential items’ for promoting
participation in recycling and composting to
the public at local events (e.g. display
panels, leaflet and a, ‘help pack’
containing templates indicative cost guides
and useful resources to help organise your
event including publicity)
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Biffaward
The Biffaward Small Grants Scheme provides
grants between £250 and £5,000. It has been
established to enable groups to quickly
access lower levels of funding in order to
improve the quality of life in their
community. Projects which have the primary
aim of improving an amenity located within
10 miles of a Biffa operation and which will
have the end benefit of fostering vibrant
communities by improving the environmental,
economic or social circumstances of a
community. These may include: Wildlife and
habitat conservation and creation (e.g. pond
construction, wildflower planting or
woodland management); Improving
opportunities for informal education and
lifelong learning (e.g. purchasing equipment
for a community led internet cafe or a
community facility); Access to sport,
culture or recreation (e.g. purchase of play
equipment or sport equipment, village green
improvements). The Small Grants Scheme is
open to any not-for-profit community led
organisation with its own bank account.
Groups can apply for between £250-£5,000
although the total cost of your project must
be no more than £10,000.
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The South West Foundation offer grants
to community groups and voluntary networks
in the South West.
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