Daisy Vasanthakumar
Are you looking for funding?
We have a full range of advice and support about finding funding, how to apply and how to be a constituted group on our companion website, The Nextdoor Nature Hub here. Each guide is in English and Welsh with a subtitled video alongside.
Worth knowing
Funding opportunities change all the time. Don't give up looking! Some funders expect you to be a charity or a certain type of group, but others don't.
•There is a lot of funding that is particular to local areas. Don't just rely on this list - google for your area, county, region, town or city too.
•Search or ask your local council, your parish council, and any large companies that are based in your area
•Don't forget the supermarkets too! We’ve added some links below to help you.
•And all the major banks give out funds.
These websites list live funding opportunities and they keep them up to date. Good luck! You won’t be able to keep abreast of all of them – have a browse and choose one or two that appeal to you.
The 47 Community Foundations across the UK provide local funding by connecting lenders, donors and funders with local causes. Find out more here. This single website will direct you to the Community Foundation in your area.
Local funding advice and support provided by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).
Funding for All is a very useful, searchable website that lists funding and gives you the closing dates. - click here.
If you register for a free account at Charity Excellence, you can access their weekly updates of funding and use their Grants and Funds Finder. Click here for more. They also have a list of funding opportunities here.
Grants Online lists latest funds and funding news here.
You could look at My Funding Central - don't be put off by the subscription it asks for. As long as your turnover is less than £30,000 a year, you won't have to pay, but you do need to prove it and jump through a few paperwork hoops first. Do note that "turnover" is not the same as "income." If you receive £30,100 and pay out £30,100 your income is zero but your turnover exceeds the £30,000 limit. Find out more here. It's really useful for searching and finding small, local pots of money.
Search Groundwork's list of grants here - they break it down by region. They don't fund directly but can help you find funding.
The Prince's Trust, while it does not provide funding itself, lists various sources of funding here.
The National Citizens' Network (NCS) with the National Youth Agency provide two types of funding throughout the year for projects that involve youth. They also run drop-in sessions to learn more. Click here for information.
The NFU (National Farmers' Union) has a Charitable Trust here which funds larger initiatives if they will have a significant impact on rural communities and this includes the education of young people in rural areas, and the relief of poverty.
If you are around the East Midlands airport, communities can apply for grants of up to £2,000 if there is a long-lasting community, social or environmental benefit to your project - check it out here. Not near this airport? Look at other large infrastructures near your area! Big businesses, especially those with an impact on the environment, often fund projects that offset the effect they have on the area.
Mentioned in all the above aggregators, but worth listing out on its own, is Aviva. Aviva Community Fund will help projects that enhance community resilience, especially focussing on Climate Action - see here.
For groups in England only, if you are working in partnership with a community business at any stage of a community share issue, check out the Community Shares Booster Fund. They can support you from the start with grants of between £2,000 and £10,000 and can also help with loan finance if appropriate. Applications are taken on a rolling basis. For Scotland, look here at Community Shares Scotland; for Wales, visit Cwmpas/Community Shares Wales and for Northern Ireland, look at Co-operative Alternatives.
The UK government offers grants from the Community Ownership Fund for communities to take over local areas including green space. It runs until March 2025 so find out more here. You will need to be incorporated or constituted, and the "asset" (the area you want to take over) must be at risk, and must provide a community benefit.
Also do look at the CLA, (Country Land and Business Association) who have a charitable trust which will fund projects that help disabled or disadvantaged (their words) people to connect to nature. Check it out here.
These supermarkets are worth looking at:
Tesco Community Grants - currently, their priority projects include support to young people.
Morrisons Foundation – offers grants for charities, and their match funding supports registered charities that Morrisons colleagues fundraise for.
Sainsburys – they make arrangements at an individual store level, so contact your local store for more information.
Lidl – click to find out about the voucher donation fund.
Co-op – New causes are chosen annually and will be selected each spring. To be accepted, you must have a project in mind that will benefit your local community.
