Green Spaces Fund for Rural Communities

Our network body ACRE is aware of a future government grant fund that may be of interest to rural community groups

In March, the Minister for Rural Affairs Robbie Moore MP announced the government’s intention to establish a new grant fund, “creating and enhancing […] green spaces at the very heart of rural communities to preserve and protect their essential character”.

Up to £7 million will be available to rural community groups to fund projects that aim to create, restore, and enhance green spaces.

It is envisaged that funds will be available for capital expenditure such as landscaping, planting, installation of natural play facilities, paths and seating.

Richard Quallington, ACRE’s Executive Director said, “We welcome the government’s commitment to supporting rural communities so they can make the most of green spaces. The fund has the potential to support a wide range of initiatives that contribute to Net Zero and biodiversity net gain, as well as improving the health and wellbeing of local residents.

We know from our experience of administering recent grants to village halls that the availability of capital funding can catalyse new projects, many of which have had an environmental focus. We stand ready to support this new scheme.”

Rural community groups interested in the fund are encouraged to register their details with ACRE so they can receive more information about the fund when this becomes available. Click here.


May Funding Opportunities

Barchester Charitable Trust

Barchester’s Charitable Foundation is a registered charity that helps older people and adults with a disability across England, Scotland & Wales. Our focus is on connecting or re-connecting people with others in their local community, and we support applications that combat loneliness and enable people to be active and engaged.

We help small community groups and local charities with activities, outings, equipment and materials for members/service users. Our grants range from £100 up to £2,500. Before starting the application, make sure to have a cost breakdown/budget and your latest annual accounts ready to upload.

We do not have a formal definition for a small charity, but if a charity has financial reserves in the hundreds of thousands or millions, it is very unlikely that we would be able to help.

We help groups with:

  • Activity projects
  • Equipment and materials for use by members
  • Member transport
  • Day trips, outings and group holidays in the UK

Our grants for groups range from £100 up to £2,500. It takes us up to 10 weeks to process an application.

Cycling UK – Big Bike Revival Grants Programme

Grants are available for voluntary groups, social enterprises, and other not-for-profit organisations to deliver cycling projects and activities across England (outside of London) for people who do not normally cycle.
Application deadline: 25 June 2024

Creating A Fairer Society & Healthier Planet

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
The Treebeard Trust is a charitable foundation supporting transformational initiatives that have the potential to create a healthier planet and fairer society. We try to invest time as well as money. We advocate on behalf of causes we are passionate about and try to support our partners, by amplifying their work, or by providing advice, connections or simply a general sounding board. If you think your organisation might be a good fit for the trust, visit our website for more info.

Veolia Environmental Trust

Applications re-open in May 2024.
We award grants towards projects that make improvements to community facilities and the natural environment. Grants are for projects by constituted, not-for-profit organisations and local authorities that are located near a qualifying Veolia site in England.

The Chestnut Fund

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
The TCV Chestnut Fund grant scheme has been designed to support grassroots community groups and initiatives wanting to deliver practical volunteering that improves the natural physical environment and better connections between people and green spaces. Groups must be members of the TCV Community Network prior to applying. Start-Up grants are for groups who have little or no money when they are first set up and are available to groups in their first year of existence. The grant will enable them to begin practical work and will cover administrative expenses, e.g. insurance fees, postage, publicity or hire of meeting rooms. Maximum grant is £200. Support grants are for existing groups who have little or no money for tools, equipment and training. Maximum grant is £500.

SPAR £100k Community Cashback

About Us: SPAR is launching its third £100,000 Community Cashback scheme.Our grant scheme is aimed at supporting and giving back to the communities that we serve.
Criteria: Local voluntary or community organisations and charities.
Grant Size: up to £10,000
Deadline for applications: 22 May 2024

Find out more about the SPAR £100k Community Cashback

The University of Reading’s Community Engagement Fund

About Us: The University of Reading’s Community Engagement Fund (CEF) sets aside a total of £30,000 every year to support local charities and community groups’ projects across the Thames Valley region.
Criteria: Local charities and community groups’ projects
Grant Size: The Community Engagement Fund provides one-off, small awards (usually around £1,000 per year), as well as larger awards (up to a maximum of £10,000 per year) on a one-off or multi-year basis, depending on the project.
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2024

About Us: Eden Projects is inviting communities to tell them how the act of sharing supports their community including their plans for sharing food on The Big Lunch weekend on 1-2 June.
Award: The community receiving the award will receive a specially designed The Big Lunch Sharing Table made by the people at City & Guilds, plus funds towards their community projects and ideas, and a hamper of food and resources for a Big Lunch that are together worth £5,000.
Three finalists will each receive a hamper of goodies to support them to have a Big Lunch, and £500 towards their project or idea to support the local community.
Deadline for applications: 9am, Monday 20 May 2024.

Find out more at www.edenprojectcommunities.com/sharing-tables-award#apply

Persimmon Community Champions

This scheme supports local charities, sports clubs and good causes across the country.
They have 30 offices across the UK that will each make a donation of up to 6,000 every quarter to those local organisations who are the lifeblood of our communities. Smaller donations are also available.

Deadline: ongoing

Women’s Health Community Fund

The Women’s Health Community Fund is designed to support small, grassroots organisations and community groups to deliver health information and support to women, girls and people from underrepresented groups.

Deadline: 19-05-2024

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




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/


Ready to plan a summer to look forward to? The Big Lunch

The days are finally getting longer and the first signs of spring have appeared. What have you got in the diary to look forward to?

If you fancy planning a get together with your neighbours and community, then be the first to get your hands on the free, digital Big Lunch pack! With editable invitations, posters, fun activity ideas and practical tips, it’s got everything you need to plan a fabulous event this summer

Since 2009, The Eden Project Communities Big Lunch has brought millions of people together to share friendship, food, and fun in their communities. This year they’re dishing up ideas to help make it the greenest Big Lunch yet, and they’ve launched brand new resources to help get the party started.

The Big Lunch also kicks off the Month of Community when good causes come together to celebrate community, encourage action and fundraise annually throughout June.

The Big Lunch brings millions of people together to share friendship, food and fun on 1 and 2 June and everyone’s invited. So, pick your date and get ready to dish up some neighbourly cheer this year! Get your free pack


Funding Opportunities in March

Utilita Giving Charity

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Any grant application from an organisation or charity needs to be for the purpose of supporting people in fuel and food poverty. Each application will be carefully reviewed individually and any applicant can expect to receive a response within 14 working days. We will not generally make a grant to an organisation, individual or household that it has supported within the last three years, and any repeat payment will only be made with the approval of the Trustees. You will be asked
to provide details about the organisation or charity, up-to-date contact details and a description of what the grant will be used for. The maximum grant size is £10,000.

Little Lives Childrens Charity

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
The number of children in the UK who do not have access to the activities and services they need to live a happy, healthy, and fun childhood is at a staggeringly high level. We want to guarantee that children around the UK can join clubs, take part in activities, learn, and have fun without it costing them or their family anything. We support children’s organisations that provide free activities, sessions, or classes for children around the UK in need. We can offer up to £2,200 worth of funding.

The Clothworkers’ Foundation

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
We aim to improve the lives of people and communities, particularly those facing disadvantage and marginalisation, through grantmaking. We award grants to UK-registered charities, CICs, and other registered UK non-profit organisations (including special schools). Grants are awarded towards capital projects, which we define as buildings, fittings, fixtures, equipment and/or vehicles. We aim to make a decision within twelve weeks for grants less than £10,000
or within six months for grants over £10,000, up to £150,000.

Wooden Spoon Capital Grants

About Us: Wooden Spoon is a British and Irish Rugby charity which supports projects to help mentally, physically disadvantaged children under the cognitive age of 25.
Criteria: Schools and not-for-profit organisations can apply for funding through the Wooden Spoon Society’s Capital Grants programme. Can be rugby or community-focused.
Through the programme funding is available for:
• Buildings and extensions
• Equipment and activity aids
• Sensory rooms and gardens
• Playgrounds and sports areas
• Soft playrooms.
Grant Size: average amount is £20,000
Deadline for applications: Rolling programme

Grow Wild

Bring your nature project to life this summer!
Criteria: For young people aged 14-25 to bring their nature project to life this summer. Individuals or groups of up to six people can apply for a grant to support an innovative project idea to celebrate why UK native plants and/or fungi are so special.
Organisations supporting young people with their project must be established, relevant and charitable in purpose or not for profit.
Grant recipients will receive:
• £500 grant for the project which can be used for anything needed such as materials, equipment, resources or helpful training.
• Support and online training from Grow Wild.
• Opportunities to connect with a community of young nature enthusiasts completing projects across the UK.
• The chance to complete Kew’s Young Environmental Leader Award designed to work alongside their Grow Wild project and recognise their achievements.
There is particular interest in applications from people who don’t know much about UK native species. Successful projects can be started in May 2024 and must be completed by the end of October 2024. Grant Size: up to £500. Deadline for applications: 3pm on 19 March 2024.

Community Ownership Fund

£150 million of national funding to ‘help communities across the UK to take ownership of assets at risk of closure’.

Schroder Charity Trust

The Schroder Charity Trust is an independent grant-making family trust which supports a wide range of charitable activities. The Schroder Charity Trust makes grants of up to £5,000 towards core and project costs to charities registered in the UK for work under the following categories:
• Arts, Culture and Heritage
• Education, Training and Employment
• Environment and Conservation
• Health and Wellbeing
• Strengthening Communities
The Trustees are particularly interested in applications which can demonstrate the following within the funding categories:
• Build strong communities and understand how to engage with intended beneficiaries
• Replicable and sustainable work
• Value for money i.e. the costs vs the number of people reached and the scale of the programme
• Maximising the use of volunteers
• Support of older people
• Support for marginalised/vulnerable younger people
• The use of helplines and information support services
• Sustainability of funding i.e. the charity will not be solely reliant on a grant from the Schroder Charity Trust for their work.

McCarthy Stone Foundation – Community Grants

We are now welcoming applications for our Spring 2024 Grant Programme.

You must be a registered charity, community group with constitution or Community Interest Company working in England, Scotland or Wales with a turnover under £250,000 p.a. as evidenced in your recent annual report. We also consider exempt charities, but do not make grants to individuals. If you are a CIC, you must be limited by guarantee.

You must be working with adults over 65 years of age and providing DIRECT person-centred interventions e.g., Befriending to address loneliness. This funding does not cover connector or infrastructure services, such as Citizens Advice or Community Transport.

Bracknell Forest Multiply Programme

Bracknell Forest Community Learning is inviting applications for grants of up to £10,000 from organisations to deliver numeracy opportunities for adults over 19 years old. It’s looking for programmes which introduce numeracy in non-traditional ways, integrating learning into everyday activities, building confidence and engaging with those who would not take part in mainstream learning programmes.

Applications to be made to allow activity to be completed by 31st March 2025.

Priority areas are:

  • Helping people use basic maths to improve managing their money.
  • Opportunities aimed at people who can’t apply for certain jobs because of lack of numeracy skills and/or to encourage people to upskill in numeracy to access a certain job/career.
  • Learning opportunities leading to a Functional Skills Qualification.
  • Learning opportunities aimed at those who are leaving, or have just left, the care system.
  • Innovative programmes delivered together with employers.
  • Learning opportunities designed to increase confidence with numbers.

To find out more, or arrange an initial discussion, email community.learning@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

Greene King Proud To Pitch Fund

About Us: We’re donating 10p from every pint of Greene King IPA and 50p from every 4x500ml can pack sold* to support local clubs from the ground up, with cash grants to help them continue the sport they love.
Criteria: For 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.
Grant Size: up to £4,000

Berkshire focussed grant makers.

Greenham Trust We are accepting applications on a rolling basis and welcome Applicants to apply now if they are supporting people with: https://greenhamtrust.com/greenham-trust-grant-funding/

Berkshire Community Foundation Grants awarded support a variety of community groups across Berkshire working to support a wide range of causes, tackling disadvantage, supporting victims of crime, poverty, homelessness, health and wellbeing, isolation and loneliness, education and skills and strengthening the community in general. https://www.berkshirecf.org/

Shanly Foundation Lending a hand where needed in the community. The Shanly Foundation primarily supports good causes predominantly within Berkshire and other home counties. https://www.shanlyfoundation.com/

The Good Exchange An online funding and fundraising platform that is wholly owned by a charity. Greenham Trust runs The Good Exchange to help funders in its local area to give and receive grants more quickly and efficiently. www.thegoodexchange.com

With thanks to Slough CVS, Wokingham & Bracknell inVOLve and West Berkshire Volunteer Centre for providing information for the articles contained in this blog.