What we've funded
In 2020, we awarded over £19.5 million to 23 projects across the UK as part of the Climate Action Fund.
These partnership projects will reduce the carbon footprint of communities and support community-led movements that can demonstrate what is possible when people take the lead in tackling climate change. National Lottery funding will support these projects to work together, share learning and be catalysts for broader and transformative change.
Funding expectations for round one
The amount of funding available per application will depend on what each partnership needs at this stage:
- applicants who need more time to develop their partnership, engage widely or test their approaches can access initial development funding (up to £200,000 over 18 months)
- applicants who might be able to start longer-term plans at an earlier stage can access larger, longer-term awards (up to £2.5m over five years).
We expect to fund a mix of different places, communities, themes and initiatives, across the UK.
We'll use learning from the first round of funding to help shape what happens next and we'll test and learn throughout the programme. Further rounds of funding will be available at a later stage.
Criteria
- Community-led: We want to see that you’ve involved the community in the design, development, and delivery of your project.
- Working in partnership: You'll be a place-based, community-led partnership that brings together a wide range of people and organisations with a shared vision of what local climate change action should look like. Partnerships will be expected to put in place an agreement as to how they will work together.
- High impact: Our funding will focus on activities that have the potential to make a meaningful and lasting difference on the carbon footprint of communities. This includes action on sustainable energy, sustainable transport, consumption (food and waste), and the natural environment. To make a real difference, projects might need to have an impact on a number of those areas.
- Lasting impact: To reduce the impact of climate change, it's important that the changes made are sustainable beyond the funding we might give. Long-term changes in behaviour, ways of working, and practices need to be at the core of all local climate action activities.
- Reach: Partnerships need to engage with people outside of those already taking action on climate change in their local communities, and beyond.
- Learning and engagement: We'll expect partnerships to produce and share their learning from the start, regularly, and be active participants in a broader movement of change.
We expect all partners to consider their own environmental impact and to have a robust policy and action plan in place. Read the UK Government’s information on environmental responsibility for charities.
We expect all partners to be aligned to our diversity, equity and inclusion principles.
Initial idea questions
In round one, we asked for organisations wanting to apply to answer the following questions. If your idea was accepted, we'd contact you to discuss next steps regarding the full proposal.
Q1: Give us a brief outline of your project - what do you want to do and why.
Q2: What and where is your organisation and community?
We want to know who you are and where your work is happening. How are the people in your community in the lead?
Q3: What does your partnership look like?
What organisations, sectors, groups and people have you been working with and speaking with about this fund? Have you worked together previously?
Q4: What have you been doing, to date, to take action on climate change?
Describe the work you have done so far, and the impact it has had. Describe your vision for climate action in your community (now or in the future). What are you aiming to achieve? Do you have any results that you could share?
Q5: Describe your collective goal or vision for taking action on climate change
Describe your vision for your climate action. What are you aiming to achieve and what does/will it look like in practice? How and why did you decide on this goal?
Q6: Who do you feel is doing the best climate action work?
Tell us about what you’ve seen elsewhere and who you’re learning from.
Q7: How are you engaging with other communities?
Have you or others in your partnership worked with other communities and different places to take action on climate change?