List of climate, environment and related funding available in November 2024.
Funding available from Scottish Climate Action Hubs:
- Renfrewshire Climate Action Network (RenCAN) (up to £500)
- Inverclyde Climate Action Network (up to £1500)
- Angus Climate Hub
- NESCAN (Covering Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
- Dumfries and Galloway Climate Hub (£500-£1000)
- Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network (£1000-£20,000)
- East Lothian Climate Hub (£10,000) until 15/11
- Fife Climate Hub until 31/01/25
- Lanarkshire Climate Hub (up to £1000)
GENERAL FUNDING
National Centre for Resilience: Deadline for all: 31 Jan 2025
- Knowledge Mobilisation Fund tailored to help UK academics engage with Scottish communities, transform scientific data into practical solutions, and provide customised tools to empower communities in building resilience.
- Community Council Fund offers financial support to help Community Councils develop and execute their local resilience plans.
- Third Sector, Community, and Practice Project Fund extends financial support to community groups, practitioners, and the third sector for collaborative projects promoting the use of local community-based approaches to enhance resilience.
‘Healthy Planet, Healthy People’ awards: The Royal Society of Edinburgh with the generous support of the Williamson Trust has reopened a fund aimed at supporting community-led research projects focused on climate, nature, and food for a healthier planet and healthier people – up to £5,000. Deadline: 5 Dec 2024
Curiosoil Curiosoil Informal Soil Education Mapping: funding and mapping grassroots initiatives and supporting 15 standout projects from different European countries with in-kind contributions (such as consumables, materials, etc.) with a total value of up to €2,000. Deadline: 28 Nov
Urban Forestry Challenge Fund: apply for up to £100,000 to add more trees and green spaces to Scotland’s cities and towns. Deadline: 15 Nov
The Just Transition Fund: grants between £20,000 and £250,000 to develop renewable energy projects that benefit those most in need. Deadline: 19 Nov
Immersive Arts funding: a groundbreaking UK-wide programme with grants of £5,000, £20,000 and £50,000 available for UK artists, including “connecting people to each other and the environment”. Deadline: Mon 02 Dec
Community Learning Exchange: An opportunity for peer to peer learning through the exchange of ideas and the sharing of common solutions. The aim is to encourage meeting new people with similar interests; gaining new insights and perspectives on shared challenges; and coming away armed with new ideas and approaches. The grant will cover up to 100% of the costs of a learning exchange by members of one community to another community project up to a limit of 13 hours at £35 per hour for planning and delivery
Scotland’s Heat Network Fund: offers capital grants to businesses and organisations in the public, private and third sectors to develop heat network projects.
The SUEZ Communities Fund – Scotland: Grants between £3,000 and £25,000 for projects in Scotland, located within 10 miles of a Landfill Site in the following categories: Public Amenity, Biodiversity or Historic Building. Deadline: 20 Nov
Green Business Grant (Glasgow): grant of up to £10,000 to reduce energy bills and help businesses make progress towards net zero carbon emissions.
Historic Environment Scotland Heritage & Place Programme: area-based funding programme that aims to contribute to the development of vibrant and sustainable places in Scotland, through community-led regeneration of the historic environment. Deadline: 17 Jan 2025
National Lottery Film Festival and Screening Programme Fund: awards between £10k – £40k to support organisations looking to produce film festivals and screening programmes in Scotland for a public audience. Deadline: 13 Jan 2025
Tesco Stronger Starts Grants: provides grants of up to £1500 to local projects from across the whole of Scotland, with priority given to projects that provide food and support to young people.
The Matthew Good Foundation – Grants for Good Fund: The aim is to support those passionate about making a difference for people, their communities, and the environment. The Fund will share £15,000 between five shortlisted projects every three months. Next deadline: 15 Dec 2024
National Lottery Community Fund – Climate Action Fund: open until end of 2024
Sustrans – Love Your Network Grant: supports communities living near the National Cycle Network to help maintain, improve, and enhance the spaces along local paths, as well as supporting wildlife conservation. Funding will take the form of equipment and training bundles of up to £1,000 in value rather than money. Applications assessed monthly closing on 5 Feb 2025
International Tree Foundation’s UK Community Tree Planting Programme: Eligible uses include purchasing trees and materials, organising events, and educational activities. Deadline: 13 Dec
Tree Council – Branching Out Fund: grants of between £250 and £2,500 to deliver tree-planting projects during the 2024/25 Winter planting season (between the end of Nov 2024 and Feb 2025)
Woodland Trust free trees to schools and communities: they make two deliveries a year, in March and November. Woodland Trust are currently taking applications for tree packs to be delivered in March 2025
Small-Scale Tree Planting Grants: up to a maximum of £1,000 for small-scale tree planting projects in Dumfries and Galloway; Scottish Borders as well as land located within South and East Ayrshire that falls within the GSA UNESCO Biosphere.
Foyle Foundation Small Grants Scheme: Grants of up to £10,000 are available to support small, grassroots and local charities currently delivering services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged or the general community across the UK. Deadline: 31 Jan 2025
Screwfix Foundation Grants: up to £5,000 available for projects that will fix, repair, maintain and improve properties and community facilities for those in need in the UK. Applications are reviewed every quarter. Next deadline: 10 Nov 2024
ONGOING FUNDS / ROLLING DEADLINES:
John Ellerman Foundation: grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 per year, for up to three years for work in the Arts, Environment, and Social Action
Royal Society’s school funding scheme Partnership Grants: Schools can apply for grants of up to £3,000 to run investigative STEM projects in partnership with STEM professionals from academia or industry. Opportunity for students to have a voice in the direction of scientific research around climate change and biodiversity by working with their STEM partner.
The Cruach Trust: grants up to a maximum of £2000 for the natural environment including gardens, and for community and music-related organisations throughout the United Kingdom.
Energy Saving Trust low emission zone support fund for businesses: Grants of £2,000 are available to micro businesses and sole traders, with an operating site within 20km of Scotland’s low emission zones, towards the safe disposal of non-compliant vehicles.
Nestrans Community Sustainable Travel Grant Scheme (North East): Funding of up to £5,000 is available to implement sustainable travel initiatives. These aim to increase travel by public transport, cycling and walking, promote low emission vehicles and reducing the need to travel.
Highlands and Islands Environment Foundation (HIEF): grants of up to £15,000 to community-led projects across the Highlands and Islands that protect and restore nature.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise Green Grant Fund: aims to support businesses and social enterprises across the Highlands and Islands to transition to net zero. Grants of between £20,000 and £250,000 are available for projects that reduce carbon emissions and contribute to the region’s net zero ambitions.
Perth and Kinross Green Capital Development Grant: companies can access this grant to invest in significant projects. Grow your business, shrink your carbon footprint, and projects leading to a low carbon future shall be assessed favourably for this fund. Grants are available up to £25,000 covering up to 50% of eligible costs.
Robertson Trust Wee Grants: funding of up to £5,000 to support organisations with an annual income of under £30,000 who are focused on building strong communities in places which have higher rates of poverty and trauma, or who are working with certain groups of people who are at a higher risk of experiencing poverty and trauma.
Robertson Trust Transport Grants: £5K-20K per year for 1-3 years. By supporting the costs of a vehicle, or transport costs more broadly, the fund aims to help charities deliver their services and remove barriers for people and places affected by poverty and trauma.
STV Green Fund: offering £1m of STV advertising airtime to Scottish businesses championing sustainability
Stobart Sustainability Fund: funding is available for projects that address climate change, reduce carbon emissions or protect the environment
The Craignish Trust fund: focuses on environmental and human rights issues. Applications can be made year round
The Ian Findlay Path Fund: Funding of between £10,000 – £100,000 towards the improvement of local path networks within and between communities, making it easier for people to choose to walk wheel or cycle for everyday journeys
The Gordon & Ena Baxter Foundation: supports charities and constituted groups which work in Scotland’s North-east and Highlands with awards from £100 up to £25,000 for capital expenditure, including for Conservation and the Environment
Hugh Fraser Foundation: supports charities active in a number of sectors including environment and education. Trustees meet in March, June, September and December. The cut-off-date for applications is normally the beginning of the month preceding the month of the meeting date.
The Cycle Access Fund: supports those least likely to have access to a bike and provides capital grants to organisations
Volunteering Matters Action Earth Grant: grants between £50 and £250 for volunteer groups across Scotland to respond to the ongoing nature and climate crises and support practical outdoor activities in local communities.
Garfield Weston Foundation: support charities that make a positive difference, working in different sectors in the UK, including welfare, youth, community, environment, education, health, arts, heritage and faith. Applications of up to £100k ongoing
The Prospectory – Idea Fund: “I’ve got an idea” is a micro fund for either individuals or small groups or organisations who have a novel technical idea which they want to try out. The fund offers grants ranging from £250 to £3k
Benefact Group Movement for Good Awards: Nominate a charity to be entered into a £1000 draw
SafeDeposits Scotland Community Fund: small grants up to £2,000 to projects enhancing communities across Scotland who commit to deliver a project that meets at least one of five criteria, including: Sustainability and the environment; Employability and career skills; Social inclusion; Technology and digital inclusion; Improving the local community. Quarterly deadlines, next: 29 Nov 2024
Crowdbound: new UK crowdfunding and crowdpublishing platform that exists to support books that cover important social or environmental themes, by authors who come from disadvantaged or under-represented backgrounds. It also seeks to support a range of projects linked to social inclusion and environmental sustainability, which would otherwise struggle to raise funding for their work
The Mushroom Trust: supports the creation and improvement of greenspaces throughout Scotland, and in particular Edinburgh/Lothians. Grants typically up to £5,000. Deadlines annually on 31st March
HDH Wills Charitable Trust: grants of £1-2k to charities which focus on the conservation of wildlife/environment. Also the Martin Wills Wildlife Maintenance Trust supports conservation and maintenance for the benefit of the public of the natural environment and its indigenous woodland flora and fauna with particular reference to rural areas. Grants of £1-5k. Applications ongoing
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation: aims to improve our natural world, secure a fairer future and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK. The Foundation’s grants support organisations’ core or project costs, including staff salaries and overheads. It also provides unrestricted funding for charities. Minimum grant application £30k. Applications ongoing
DPO Centre Charity and Community Fund: funding of up to £10,000 to provide access to data protection consultancy services. Rolling deadlines, next one 30 Nov
FCC Scottish Action Fund: grants between £2,000 and £40,000 for the following types of projects eligible under Scottish Landfill Communities Fund (SLCF): Land Reclamation, Community Recycling, Public Amenities and Parks, Biodiversity, Historic Buildings. Next round opens 18 Sept and closes 20 Nov 2024
PFAF Food Forest Fund: small grants of between £1000 to £3000 to help new food forest projects get started
Scottish Education And Action For Development Fund (SEAD): grants of typically £250 to small community groups and individuals who are looking to run or kick start campaigns that engage with people, have a demonstrable impact and aims to link local issues with those being experienced by others around the world
Material Focus – Electricals Recycling Fund: supports projects that build on existing methods or test new, creative and practical ways of recycling household electricals. Grants of up to £100k
The Nineveh Charitable Trust: UK based schools and not for profit organisations can apply for funding for a broad range of projects and activities that promote a better understanding of the environment and countryside, whilst facilitating improved access, education and research
Green Fundraisers Forum: The Green Fundraisers Forum (GFF) has been set up to provide a space for grant-seeking environmental organisations worldwide to connect and share. The Forum is open to individuals and not-for-profit organisations who have environmental work at the core of their mission. If you are interested in joining, please complete this form.
Aims to support communities to be ‘agents of change’ by unlocking local wealth and local control through democratic finance sources and tools.
What do we mean by democratic finance?
Democratic
- Money is raised collectively from within a community
- Money is invested into democratically controlled organisations
- Investment and membership opportunities are open to all
- Communities acting independently on their own behalf
- Community assets and services are mutually owned and run
Finance
- Organisations have a greater blend of income and are less grant dependent
- Communities have networks of ‘Citizen Investors’
- Money is repayable to local people and local organisations
- Money is retained and circulated locally, boosting long term community wealth
- Investment opportunities are affordable and fair, and best suited to community and social enterprises
What support is available?
The team at Democratic Finance Scotland will provide practical, hands-on support to democratic, community led organisations to build their financial resilience and control. Support will be offered to explore local, citizen driven sources of income such as community shares, community bonds, one off community lotteries and local legacy giving etc, to encourage a move away from grant dependency. There will also be a focus on funding and investment opportunities from the renewables transition with a focus on ensuring a JUST transition benefiting communities across all Scotland.
Democratic Finance Scotland is open to community and social enterprises either with, or with a desire to adopt:
- A democratic, fair and open governance structure
- An enterprising, empowering and sustainable approach
- A grassroots focus on securing, boosting and retaining local wealth.