More grants available from Litter Innovation Fund
Melanie May | 16 August 2018 | News
The Government has made more money available for community projects tackling littering through its £450,000 Litter Innovation Fund.
Over £300,000 is available in this funding round, which is open for applications until 5 October. The programme will award small grants of up to £10,000 to support innovative research projects located in England only that have the potential to be scaled up or replicated more widely. Applicants must contribute a minimum of 10% match funding, either in-kind or monetary. Only projects that can show meaningful results within six months can be funded, although those with project idea that will enhance and improve an existing intervention, which can be implemented in a new way, may also apply.
The first round of Litter Innovation Fund funding saw a number of councils, charities, businesses, and public projects awarded almost £125,000 to take innovative steps to tackle littering in their communities. Successful projects included measures to tackle littering by football fans, and working with hauliers and business owners to reduce roadside litter.
As part of the Fund, Defra is also preparing to launch a ‘digital innovation challenge’ to help find digital and technological solutions to local litter challenges.
The funding builds on the Government’s wider Litter Strategy for England, as well as the recent launch of the 25 Year Environment Plan. 10% of the fund is dedicated to preventing marine litter.
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said:
“This Government is tough on tackling litter, which if left unchecked makes our towns and cities less pleasant places, poisons our wildlife, and blights our countryside. That is why we are providing grants of up to £10,000 for communities to come up with creative solutions to tackle litter in their local area and I encourage local groups to apply.”
The programme is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). It is administered by WRAP with more information available on the WRAP site.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.