What is a Rural Exception Site?

Have you heard of a Rural Exception Site? These were originally introduced in 1991 as a mechanism for delivering affordable homes on small plots of rural land that would not otherwise be granted permission for housing development.

An exception site is literally an exception in planning terms. It allows for planning permission to be granted on land that would not normally be granted planning permission, possibly due to contraints like Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Green Belt, or simply because it is outside the settlement envelope or boundary of the village. Almost all exception sites are adjacent to a settlement boundary, as land within the boundary often has development value. It is this very fact of not having development value that makes the land more affordable for affordable housing development.

Our Rural Housing Enablers (RHEs) are keen to hear from Berkshire parish councils or rural community groups that think there may be a housing need in their village or parish. They have recently produced a Developing New Affordable Housing in Rural Exception Sites guide which can be found here.

Our RHEs can help groups and parish councils plot a route through the various processes and help put them in touch with others who might need to become involved.

“Building the homes people need brings vitality to rural communities and helps boost the rural economy at this difficult time,” our CEO Tim Parry observed. “This project helps rural communities in Berkshire carry out a housing needs survey and identify potential sites. We have already engaged with eight rural communities looking for advice and guidance about affordable housing and we have two housing needs surveys in the pipeline. Any rural community interested in exploring their options for meeting the local need for affordable housing should contact our Rural Housing Enablers at the earliest opportunity.”


Funding Opportunities in April

The Syder Foundation

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. We aim to award around eight large grants per year, with a focus on regional charities located in Berkshire and the surrounding
counties. Total large grants awarded annually will be between £3-4 hundred thousand with each grant at around the £50K level. We also set aside around £100k per year from which
small awards may be made. Should you have a project to bring to the Foundation’s attention, applications may be submitted via email (postal applications are accepted if you are unable to access email). Please note that requests for general running / core costs (including salaries) are unlikely to be funded. Find out more.

The Rank Foundation

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. Pebbles is our small funding stream for UK registered charities and recognised churches which are raising money for projects where the total cost is less than £150,000. This money can be spent on short breaks, equipment, or capital costs. Pebble grant applications are processed on a quarterly basis and can take up
to 4 months for a decision and payment to be made. Grants are awarded on a discretionary basis; the Rank Foundation’s contribution ranges from £250 up to and including £4,000, depending on the total cost of the project. Find out more.

Learning Through Landscapes Nature Grants

Applications close on Friday 26th April. Grants are available to provide outdoor learning training and equipment to schools and early years providers. Up to £500 worth
of products are on offer, plus the potential to receive our additional Climate Curriculum Pack, to help schools to branch out into nature. Find out more.

Schroder Charity Trust

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. We are an independent grant-making family trust which supports a wide range of charitable activities. We make grants of up to £5,000 towards core and project costs to charities registered in the UK for work under the categories of arts, culture, heritage education training, employment, environment, conservation, health, wellbeing and overall strengthening communities. More info.

February Foundation

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. We make grants to a range of charities and charitable activities in accordance with our grant making policy which is set out in our annual report and accounts. We support project or core / capital costs. Please send us the details and budget of the proposed project, how many people would benefit, how those benefits might be measured, what the estimated cost of raising funds for the project is, and the full cost of raising voluntary income. Our median award is £5,000 and we are happy to part-fund projects. Click here for more.

Big Bike Revival Grants

About Us: The Big Bike Revival is all about helping adults to begin or return to cycling through a programme of FREE activities and services, delivered by local community organisations
Criteria: For voluntary and community cycle groups to deliver projects and activities that:
• Encourage people who don’t cycle to cycle.
• Encourage people to cycle more often.
• Increase short cycling trips.
• Improve the perception of cycling safety.
• Improve people’s confidence to cycle.


For the Summer 2024 funding round, there is a focus on encouraging partners to inspire participants to return to subsequent events, to help sustain increases in cycling, and to help make a much bigger difference through Big Bike Revival.
The Big Bike Revival Grants Programme will support events and activities that use the ‘fix-learn-ride’ model to provide sessions for people groups that are underrepresented in cycling, such as:
• Women.
• People on low incomes.
• People who suffer from poor mental health.
• People who are not meeting physical activity guidelines.
• People who are lacking confidence.
• Unemployed people.
• Military veterans.
• People who are experiencing substance abuse.
• Ethnic minorities.
• Refugees and asylum seekers.
• People who are experiencing transport poverty.
Funding is for activities delivered between 29 March 2024 and 31 October 2024.
Grant Size: up to £3,500
Deadline for applications: 25 June 2024 Find out more about Big Bike Revival Grants

FA Snickers Just Play Support Fund

About Us: Interested in setting up an adult (16+) recreational football session?
Criteria: to individuals, clubs, organisations and community groups to set up a new Just Play football session in their area or to develop an existing session. Just Play is for men and women aged 16+ of all abilities
Grant Size: £250
Deadline for applications: Rolling programme
Find out more about FA Snickers Just Play Support Fund

Tesco Stronger Starts – Footie for All Fund

Grants are available to support grassroot football clubs across the UK with a priority on supporting children up to the age of 18 access sport and physical activity and/or providing more equipment and opportunity for children. Application deadline: 30 April 2024. Click here for more details.

Community Ownership Fund

Grants are available to voluntary, community and charitable organisations in the UK to support them in taking ownership of local assets such as sporting and cultural venues, meeting spaces, community centres, pubs and shops that are at risk of closure. For more detail click here

Youth Music Trailblazers

The Youth Music Trailblazer fund offers grants of £2,000 to £30,000 to organisations in England to run projects for children and young people (25 or under) to make, learn and earn in music. The project should trial work for the first time, test a new way of working, or disrupt the status quo (or all three!).
Your work must meet one of our themes:
• Early years
• Disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent young people
• Youth justice system
• Young people facing barriers
• Young adults
• Organisations and the workforce.
Deadline: 30 August 2024

Rectory Foundation

Registered charities, community groups, social enterprises, community interest companies (limited by guarantee) or other not-for-profit organisations which are based in, or operate for the benefit of residents in the shaded circle areas on the map. This includes parish & town councils where the activity is not statutory in nature. The groups must be formally constituted and operate for public benefit.

To be eligible, groups (and projects) that apply for funding should clearly demonstrate why they meet the vision for “thriving people and places in our local communities”. Additionally, they must have one (or more) of the following areas of focus:
• Helping those most in need within the community, particularly those who are isolated or disadvantaged.
• The improvement of the local environment, accessible community areas or buildings, and green spaces.
Priority is given to projects/groups that best align to our vision of; “thriving people and places in our local communities”. Grant of up to £5,000 are available.

The Helen Hamlyn Trust

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
We are an independent grant-making trust which initiates medium and long-term major projects linked to the shared interests of Lady Hamlyn and her late husband Lord Hamlyn.
Our core ethos is to develop innovative projects, which aim to effect lasting change, improve quality of life and create opportunity for the benefit of the public. Our grant-making
is in the fields of medicine, arts, culture, education, welfare, healthy ageing, and more. Small grants are made to local and regional charities up to £10,000.

John Sykes Foundation

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
We support a wide range of organisations and causes within 5 miles of Reading (including parts of the Wokingham Borough such as Woodley, Twyford, Winnersh, Earley and Arborfield)
that make a positive impact. Our grants vary depending on the type and length of support required. Please ensure you read our application guidelines and try our eligibility quiz.

Proud To Pitch In Clubs Fund

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. The Proud To Pitch In fund by Greene King is open throughout the year and offer grants of up to £4,000 to grassroots and community sports clubs across the United Kingdom. To be eligible for funding, projects must be located in the United Kingdom and project beneficiaries must be aged 18 or over. If you are involved in running a grassroots sports club you can apply online.

Asda Foundation – Cost of Living Grant

Grants are available for local community groups in the UK who are affected by the increase in the cost of living. Volunteer-related costs, rent/utilities expenses and food/essentials are supported by the grant.
Application deadline: 24 May 2024

Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF)

Funding for public bodies, non-government organisations, community groups, charities, individuals and private companies, to support the planting and establishment of large and small trees in urban and peri-urban areas of England.
Application deadline: 30 June 2024

B and Q Foundation

We help charities who are supporting people in need in the UK – those experiencing homelessness, in financial hardship, impacted by health, disability, or other disadvantage or distress. We believe that everyone needs a place to feel at home. So, we are looking to fund projects that decorate, renovate, or create spaces where people can feel at home and have a sense of belonging. This can be both indoor and outdoor. Providing grants for a wide range of charities who are looking for funding to improve or develop spaces that benefit their local communities.
We know that charities are pushed for time and that is why we work with the team at Neighbourly to make the application process as easy as possible. Follow the three-step process below to apply for a B&Q Foundation grant.
We award grants of up to £10,000 for building or indoor projects, and up to £5,000 for garden projects. We want to provide funding that covers the full cost for the completion of the project, so please include an estimated value of staff time required.

Screwfix Foundation

Organisation criteria Project eligibility Your organisation must be a charity or not for profit company based in the UK and:

  • Registered as a charity in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland; or
  • Registered as a Not for Profit company at Companies House or the registered on the FCA mutuals register.

We fund projects which improve a physical building (or land attached to it) that is used by people in need. The types of projects we fund are:

  • Improved energy efficient lighting & heating
  • Installation of new kitchen, bathroom etc.
  • Installation of a sensory room
  • General painting & decorating
  • Improving safety and security of a building.

You will need to provide details on the number of direct beneficiaries that will be impacted by the project, who will benefit from the project and detail what you are requesting funding for. Please think carefully about your project and whether you can accept a partial award and how funding will be raised if the total project is in excess of £5,000. We prioritise applications where we are able to fund the total project amount. To review your application, we will need to have certainty that your project will go ahead.
Screwfix Foundation | Screwfix

Deadline: 10th May 2024

Thank you to Berkshire’s CVS’s for the information contained in this blog – Slough CVS, Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve and West Berkshire Volunteer Centre.


Boundary changes in Berkshire

We do not know yet when it will happen but there is no doubt that 2024 there will be a general election.

Changes to the political map ahead of the next general election mean constituencies will be new or different from the last general election for millions of people, including those in Berkshire.

The boundary changes could have an impact on who becomes your local MP.

You can use a handy tool on the BBC News website to find out which constituency you are now in: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67361138

It will also give you an estimate of the result had these new boundaries been in place at the last general election, in 2019.

The image below from Electoral Calculus; https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/bdy2023_seast_summary.html shows the changes and how they affect areas in Berkshire.


Village Halls Week 2024 set to ‘go green!’

Phillip Vincent, Public Affairs and Communications Manager from out national body Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), blogs ahead of Village Halls Week which is set to return for the seventh year running and challenge community buildings to consider how they can save energy and support environmental initiatives that help with Net Zero.

With scientific warnings of the climate crisis mounting and governments and international institutions scrabbling in search of grand solutions, it’s easy to feel powerless to act in the face of great threats to our way of life, and that of future generations.

But as much as bold decisions are needed regarding the global management of the Earth’s resources and the carbon emitted into the atmosphere, little will happen unless there is action on the ground.

Rural communities have great potential to be pioneers in the local battle for Net Zero. This is likely to include adopting more sustainable agricultural practices, welcoming renewable energy generation, improving the energy efficiency of older buildings and reducing the need for people to travel by utilising digital technology. Mitigation too is needed to blunt the consequences of climate change such as flooding and wildfires.

Village halls, like parish councils, are one of very few institutions embedded in nearly every corner of rural England. Hosting a wide range of activities, events, groups, and services, they have great reach into communities. Many have been used as a place of refuge during extreme weather events. And as the Post Office Horizon scandal has recently brought to light, they are sometimes venues where radical community activism begins!

The humble village hall is therefore surprisingly well placed to be a catalyst for environmental action. Village Halls Week 2024 will consider how this can happen. It will look at what some halls are already doing to serve as inspiration, and it will provide an opportunity for others to hold events and reach out to residents to see what might work locally for them.

A highlight of this year’s campaign will be the publication of a Net Zero Design Guide for Village & Community Halls produced by stagg architects on behalf of ACRE.

Typically, village halls are older buildings which can be off the gas grid. Some date back over 100 years. Many have been vulnerable to energy price shocks over the past couple of years with some groups spending over half of their income keeping the building warm at the peak of the crisis.

On this basis, a logical, and much needed starting point for village hall groups interested in ‘going green’ is making improvements to their building to reduce the amount of energy they consume as well as their bills.

The guidance set to be launched via a livestream features several halls in Cumbria, Lancashire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset and Somerset which have done just that. Work undertaken by these halls include improving insulation, upgrading heating systems and even generating their own energy. They demonstrate that whilst there’s no one size fits all solution, there are many take home lessons from their experiences with regards to project planning, involving the wider community, fundraising, and working with technical experts and contractors.

For more information about Village Halls Week, please visit: https://acre.org.uk/village-halls-week-2024/