The National Lottery Community Fund’s £8 million Climate Action Fund is a UK-wide grant programme for community-led partnerships, formed from a mixture of organisational types, for projects that will have a significant impact on climate change. Projects led by, or supporting, people and communities that have been hardest hit by climate change are likely to be prioritised. Up to 15 projects are expected to be funded through the Fund.
This is a predominantly revenue grant programme (with a limited capital funding element) offering the following two levels of funding:
1. Development Grants of £50,000 to £150,000 over 12 to 18 months, and
2. Grants of up to £1.5 million over 2-5 years. The majority of grant awards will be between £300,000 and £500,000.
Partnerships, which can be newly formed for the purpose of applying to the Fund, or well-established, can be either locally-based or UK wide. UK wide partnerships must be delivered across two or more UK countries.
Projects should make a clear link between climate and nature, and incorporate other social and economic benefits such as (please note that this is not an exclusive list):
o The creation of strong, resilient and healthy communities, and
o The development of 'green' skills and jobs.
Possible examples of activities and projects that could be funded by the Climate Action Fund include those that:
o Encourage environmental awareness by increasing outdoor learning opportunities.
o Employ storytelling or creative approaches to engage communities with the climate challenge through nature.
o Explore systems of producing food that are less damaging to nature, more self-sufficient, or that shorten distance we transport food, and
o Make new, better quality and more accessible natural spaces. For example, where the natural environment has been replaced by human activity in urban areas.
Grants can be used to cover:
o Engagement activities.
o Learning and evaluation.
o Limited capital costs. This could be for buying equipment or buying, leasing, refurbishing or developing land and buildings, or other construction-related work.
o Operational costs, including utilities.
o Organisational development and management.
o Project costs.
o Staffing, and
o Volunteer expenses.
Funding is not available for:
o Activities where a profit will be distributed for private gain.
o Alcohol.
o Anyone who is applying on behalf of another organisation.
o Applications from a single organisation - only partnerships consisting of two or more organisations are eligible.
o Applications that cannot show how the wider local community has contributed to the design and development of the project.
o Capital funding (this is a predominantly revenue fund, although proposals may includea limited capital element).
o Individuals.
o Items which will only benefit an individual, rather than the wider community.
o Loans, endowments or interest.
o Organisations based outside the UK.
o Organisations focused on making profits and sharing profits privately.
o Organisations seeking significantly more funding than they have experience of managing, or that significantly increases their annual turnover.
o Paying someone to write the application.
o Political activities, including lobbying.
o Religious activities, although religious organisations will be considered eligible if their project benefits the wider community and does not include religious content.
o Retrospective costs.
o Sole traders.
o Statutory services, or
o VAT that can be reclaimed
Further information, guidance and an online application for is available on the National Lottery Community Fund website.
Applications may be made at any time and will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Please note that a 2-stage application process applies to the Fund. After a first-stage application has been made, the National Lottery will inform applicants if they’ve successfully progressed to the second and final stage within 6 weeks, with a final decision made around 4 months after the 2nd stage application has been submitted.
