Open now! Deadline: 1st September 2024

Core funding for organisations, with income under £250k pa finding it hard to maintain their activities, to help them to continue delivering their vital services to the Severn Trent communities.

An unrestricted grant of £5,000 - £20,000 is available. 

Core costs are essential costs your organisation has to keep running. This might include management and administration, general office costs (rent and utilities), accountancy and audit, fundraising, communications and governance/compliance costs.

You can apply to Severn Trent to cover any of these costs.

The Core Costs grants are awarded as restricted funding. They must be used to cover your organisation’s essential running expenses which you include in your application.

Suez Communities Trust is offering grants of between £3,000 and £50,000 for constituted not-for-profit groups across England to deliver projects that make capital improvements to public amenities.

Approximately £1.6 million is available per year for projects in communities surrounding a qualifying SUEZ Recycling and Recovery site that are open to the public as a minimum of either 4 evenings a week, 2 days a week, or 104 days a year. Examples include:

• Village hall improvements.
• Nature reserves and conservation.
• Village greens.
• Community centres.
• Public playgrounds.
• Cycle paths.
• Sports fields and facilities.
• Country parks.
• Historic buildings, structures, or sites.

Improvements to places of religious worship will only be considered if they are Grade I designated. Projects to improve other historic buildings, structures or sites must be Grade I, II or II*, or have another significant heritage designation such as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Opens: 12th September 2024

Arts Council England has announced a new round of funding through its Creative People and Places Programme.

The Fund is intended to help get local people involved in the arts across parts of England where arts involvement is considerably below the national average. The 2026 - 2029 funding round will support programmes of cultural activity and engagement in 142 locations across England (Chesterfield is one of the areas included). 

Grants of between £750,000 and £1 million will be available over three years. The funding is for programmes in eligible locations that support the public in shaping local arts and cultural provision and, in so doing, increase attendance and participation in excellent art and culture. Activities must be delivered over three years and take place between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2029.

It is expected that at least 15% of the total project costs should come from other sources.

Applications will be accepted from both existing and new Creative People and Places programmes. Consortia that can consist of arts organisations, museums, libraries, amateur groups and voluntary and community sector groups can apply. 

Lead applicants must have an initial conversation with an Arts Council England Relationship Manager before applying. Initial conversations can be arranged from 5 August 2024 by contacting Arts Council England via email.

Deadline: 1st December 2024

The Tree Council is offering grants of between £250 and £2,500 for schools, constituted community groups and charities, community interest companies, Tree Warden networks, and other organisations across the UK to deliver tree-planting projects during the 2024/25 Winter planting season (between the end of November 2024 and early February 2025).

Through the Branching Out Fund, groups can purchase:

• Bare root, UK-sourced and grown, native trees of an appropriate size (priority will be given to younger trees that will establish better).
• UK-sourced and grown, bare-root whips (saplings) and cell-grown (root trainer) stock for hedging projects (between 40-120cm height).
• Hedgerow trees.
• Orchards, such as fruit trees on semi-vigorous, vigorous, and very vigorous rootstocks.
• Cardboard/bioplastic tree/hedge guards.
• Non-plastic ties.
• Stakes (coppiced material such as chestnut or hazel is preferred, although machined softwood will also be considered).
• Mulch.
• Non-peat-based soil improvers if needed.

Priority will be given to applicants that have strong community engagement embedded from the beginning of the planting project.

Grants of between £10,000 and £10 million are available for not-for-profit organisations to support places of worship across the UK to address heritage issues, such as the repair needs of listed buildings, workforce and volunteer capabilities, and supporting heritage in places of worship that are inaccessible, at risk, or under-used.

National Lottery Heritage Fund is making at least £15 million available over the next three years for strategic projects at a regional or national level that will proactively tackle long-standing issues, enable co-ordinated cross-territory approaches, address gaps, and accelerate new ideas and interventions, including but not limited to:

• Projects at scale that develop the processes, systems, and infrastructure needed through a change in use, management, or ownership.
• Projects that establish the cultural and heritage significance of places of worship where that may be at risk of loss.
• Capacity-building projects that can provide broader support, advice, and guidance for owners and managers of historic religious buildings and sites.
• Initiatives that bring together many organisations, faith groups, and funders to collaborate and find solutions to issues facing places of worship and heritage.
• Exploring feasibility for more sustainable options for existing or new uses for places of worship.
• Projects that trial different approaches to managing places of worship at an area scale.
• Projects that explore the heritage of places of worship to support and contribute to the local and visitor economy at a national or regional level.

Applications for up to £250,000 can be submitted at any time and decisions are made monthly. For grants over £250,000, decisions are made on a quarterly basis by the Committee of the applicant’s nation or area or by the board of trustees (the next deadline for applications over £250,000 is 15 August 2024). 

The Grass Pitch Improvement Fund (GPIF) is administered by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The funding is intended to support investment into three main areas:

• Improving the quality of squares and outfields (for grass pitches rated 'unsuitable' or 'basic' to improve to at least 'good').
• Creating sustainable management of sites (through irrigation and machinery improvements).
• Installing hybrid pitches to increase playing capacity.

The amount of grant will be determined by the ECB on a case-by-case basis.

Applications will be accepted from cricket clubs and other organisations affiliated to the ECB via their local CCB or CF, or that affiliate to the ECB nationally via the African Caribbean Cricket Association (ACCA) or National Asian Cricket Council (NACC).

In addition, the ECB, CCBs or CFs may solicit applications from state funded Schools and Further Education establishments, Local Authorities, or targeted Community Groups in support of local strategies.

Priority will be given to applications which support cricket for the following groups:

• Women's and girls' cricket.
• Cricket in diverse communities.
• Disability cricket.
• Low socio-economic groups (LSEG).