Green Grants 2024
You may be aware that in 2023 we trialled a new Green Grants programme for non-environmental grant-holders. Grants were available for up to £10,000 each to develop climate change mitigation and environmental improvements within organisations. We’re pleased to announce that we are rolling out this programme in 2024, creating a new fund, available to existing grant-holders whose mission is not within the environment sector, to develop and deliver climate change or environmental projects. Read on for more details on last year’s trial, and links to apply for this new fund.
Green Grants 2023 Trial
We learnt a lot from the trial, the key points from which are:
- Cross-sector collaboration is important and adds impact. It’s also time-consuming, so it needs to be proportionate;
- Most projects involve aspects that are not within our control, so need to be planned well, and realistically;
- Mission creep happens easily, so it’s worth being really clear about priority goals – and revisiting these as the project progresses;
- Keeping application processes light-touch is important.
But most notable and surprising perhaps, was that the fund was not fully taken up. We have concluded from this that we need to do better to encourage interest, and have made the following adjustments accordingly:
- There is now no deadline by which expressions of interest must be submitted, although grants will be made on a first come, first served basis;
- The programme is now open to those organisations whose funding period ended within the last 12 months – not just those whose grant is still active;
- There is no project completion deadline. Applicants should now tell us their realistic implementation timelines, as per the main grant programme;
- There is no constraint regarding income level. Rather than organisations with more than £2m income being ineligible; the new Green Grants will be open to all (non-environmental) grantees except for exempt organisations (i.e. Universities).
However, those who accessed the pilot offer last year will not be eligible to apply this year.
Green Grants 2024
We know that the climate and nature crises pose a threat to all of our missions; whether we are rooted in social issues, arts and culture, health, education, employability, youth work… and therefore we believe that investing time and other resources in taking action is something that can, and should, feature in all our plans, regardless of our core missions.
We hope that, like us, you are excited and motivated by the opportunity to galvanise action within your organisation.
The application window for 2024 is now open.
- Total fund value: £100,000 in 2024
- Maximum grant available per organisation: £10,000
- Income threshold of applicant: not applicable (exempt organisations are not eligible)
- For more project inspiration, see the examples above. Or, check out Going Green Together / Act for examples from the North East of England.
Eligible organisations should complete the Expression of Interest here in the first instance.
We look forward to hearing from you.
