New grants for green community projects, & other funding news
Melanie May | 25 April 2023 | News
The new Green Spaces Fund has opened with a deadline of 12 May for applications. More on this below, plus details of other funding news and opportunities.
New £500,000 fund opens to support green community projects
Communities with a focus on the environment are invited to apply for a new Green Spaces Fund that aims to support the development of green spaces that bring people together, encourage more wildlife and biodiversity, improve air quality, and reduce noise, as well as delivering health benefits, and creating employment and volunteering opportunities.
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Applications are welcome from community organisations of all kinds, across the Midlands, South West and Wales, particularly those supporting vulnerable groups to overcome barriers to accessing green spaces. Projects that create volunteering opportunities for members of the local community are also encouraged to apply.
The fund will award grants of up to £2,000 for unregistered organisations. Registered charities and eligible non-profit companies can apply for up to £10,000.
Applications for the Green Spaces Community Fund could include the following:
- Planting spaces and new allotment creation in existing green spaces
- Bee banks, bird/bat boxes, wildflowers, ponds, trees, hedges, and other projects to
improve biodiversity - Development of unused land into green spaces
- Gardening workshops and allotment activities to bring vulnerable members of the
community into green spaces, including sensory or mindfulness garden creation - Access pathways, ramps and seating in in parkland or nature reserves
- Redevelopment of existing green spaces to encourage greater community use
- Forest school education sessions for young people or craft workshops in nature
- Innovative approaches to create or develop green spaces for public enjoyment
The closing date for applications is Friday 12 May.
The Green Spaces initiative is the latest phase of the Community Matters Fund, run by National Grid Electricity Distribution. The fund, which is paid for entirely by shareholders, has awarded £4.3 million to grassroots organisations since 2021 in a process run and administered by Localgiving.
Undergraduates donate to local Kent charities
Undergraduate students at the University of Kent have made a £1,800 donation to two local charities as part of their philanthropy studies.
The students from the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research awarded funding to Napier Friends in support for refugee and asylum seekers in Napier Barracks in Folkestone, and City Impact, a youth charity working supporting disadvantaged young people and young offenders in Canterbury.
The grant giving was part of the students’ Learning by Giving – Philanthropy in Action module. The basis of the module is for students to lead decision making processes as a grant funder. The £1,800 funding pot was donated to the University by humanitarian David Jamilly. The module is run in partnership with Kent Community Foundation who managed the grant and have co-delivered several workshops, providing students with insight into the charitable sector, grant making processes, and assessing the needs, strengths and challenges of charitable giving. Students also heard from several charities outlining their work and the issues locally that they are trying to address.
Winners of Purina’s BetterwithPets Prize announced
Petcare provider, Purina, has announced the winners of its BetterwithPets Prize, recognising the work of three organisations in setting standards and best practices in fostering people’s health and well-being through the power of the pet-human bond.
The winners have the potential to strengthen their impact further and contribute to combat some of the most pressing social issues including providing free veterinary care to those facing homelessness, animal-assisted interventions and pet visits to people of all conditions and vulnerabilities.
The three organisations awarded this year’s BetterWithPets Prize are:
- Pets As Therapy
- Center de Teràpies Assistides amb Cans (CTAC)
- StreetVet
The BetterwithPets Prize aims to support the growth of the winning organisations through a strategic grant funding of up to €200,000 over a two-year period to help them scale their operations.
To find out more about Purina’s Better with Pets Prize winners, click here.
Partnership to support 14 students with university scholarships
A partnership between the Raheem Sterling Foundation, The University of Manchester and King’s College London has today been announced which will support 14 students with scholarships that will enable them to study at the universities, in a bid to help close the attainment gap for Black British students, increase social mobility, and support equal access to higher education.
Applications will be open to young people in the regions of Greater Manchester and Greater London and there will be a number of opportunities over the next three years for students to apply.
The first four scholarships (two at King’s and two at Manchester) will be available for students commencing degree programmes in 2023/24.
For more information on the courses available, eligibility criteria, and application process, please visit the University of Manchester and King’s College London website.
New charity awards launched to fight child poverty in the North West
The Equilibrium Foundation has announced the launch of the Equilibrium Foundation Grant Awards, through which it will provide £60,000 in funding annually to smaller and lesser-known charities in the North West of England, centering around a different theme each year.
Applications are now open to charities based in the North West with a turnover of less than £1mn, closing on 26 May. A judging panel made up of Equilibrium staff, clients and associates will decide on the winning charities based on application information. The winners of this year’s awards will be announced in July.
Established in 2010, The Equilibrium Foundation is the charitable giving arm of Handforth-based Equilibrium Financial Planning LLP. Since 2015, it has been supporting charities across the North West through its Community Support Scheme which provides grants of up to £500 to five winners every six months. The foundation has also launched a financial skills programme which aims to equip children with a financial understanding that will carry them through life. So far, the foundation has raised over £750,000 for charitable organisations and aims to raise £4mn by 2028.
Nationwide Community Grants available for organisations tackling housing crisis
The Nationwide Community Grants programme supports local charities, cooperatives and community land trusts to find local solutions to tackle the housing crisis.
These organisations can apply for grants of up to £60,000 to fund projects which help people in housing need.
Nationwide divides the UK up into 11 regions, each with its own Community Board made up of Nationwide members and colleagues from that region.
All applications for grants are assessed by the in-house team and a shortlist is then shared with Community Board members to work out which projects should be funded.
The number of applications in each region is capped to 40, with one in five successful.
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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.