Sustainable Community Buildings | The National Lottery Community Fund

We open applications for different council areas at different times. This is to make sure that we offer a spread of funding across Northern Ireland. It also helps us manage demand.

We’ll be open for applications from 8 January 2025 to 19 February 2025 for organisations with community buildings in the:
Belfast City Council, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, and Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council areas.

We were open for applications from 11 September 2024 to 23 October 2024 for organisations with community buildings in the:
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Derry City and Strabane District Council, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and Fermanagh and Omagh District Council areas.

We were open for applications from 7 February until 20 March 2024 for organisations with community buildings in the:
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, Mid Ulster District Council, Ards and North Down Borough Council or Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council areas.

This funding is to help your organisation to:

learn how to be more environmentally sustainable – by attending carbon literacy training
understand what changes you can make to be more environmentally sustainable – by working with experts in sustainability to create an environment plan for your organisation
improve the environmental performance of your building – for example, we could offer funding so that you can add solar panels, improve insulation or install energy-efficient lighting
share the benefits of being more environmentally sustainable with your community
monitor, measure and report on the impact of your funding – for example, track what difference the improvements have made to carbon emissions, energy savings, community engagement and behaviour change
ultimately reduce your carbon footprint and energy bills.

This funding is part of our new strategy. One of our aims is to support communities to be environmentally sustainable.

Area: Northern Ireland
Suitable for: Voluntary or community organisations (with an annual income of less than £500,000)
Funding size: Up to £50,000  (capital funding only)
Application deadline: Check the deadline for your council area

Apply

To get funding

There are two stages to the application:

Stage one: Submit an expression of interest form
Stage two: Apply for funding.

Stage one: Submit an expression of interest form

If you’re successful at stage one, we’ll ask you to sign up to carbon literacy training. We’ll also ask you to work with a sustainability expert to create an environment plan for your organisation.

What carbon literacy training is

We ask that two people from your organisation attend the training. It should take around two days to complete and it will be online. These days might not be consecutive. It must be a committee or board member and a volunteer or staff member that attend.

Carbon literacy training gives you the practical knowledge and tools to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. It helps you look at individual, organisational and structural changes you can make. It also helps identify alternative energy sources that will reduce your costs.

How you’ll work with a sustainability expert

We ask that you work with an expert (that we provide) to work out how to improve the environmental performance of your building. You’ll work with them to create an environment plan using a template that we’ll provide.

An environment plan covers what your organisation could do to reduce your impact on the environment. It also helps you understand if you could save money on your energy bills.

Stage two: Apply for funding.

If you complete the carbon literacy training, you’ll be invited to stage two.

This includes asking for up to £50,000 to improve the environmental performance of your community building. What you ask for will be based on your organisation’s environment plan.

When you can start stage one – expression of interest form

What information you need to apply

You can see a full list of questions from the expression of interest form.

You can also view our land and buildings guidance.

If it's difficult or impossible for you to complete an online application form  

You can contact us if you have any communication support needs. We’re happy to talk about other ways for you to apply.  

What happens next

We'll email you to let you know we got your application.
Your answers will be passed on to a funding officer, who will check your eligibility. They will also carry out checks on the information you provide us. You can find out more about the checks we'll carry out on your information.
We’ll email you to let you know if you’ve been selected for carbon literacy training and working with a sustainability expert.

How long it takes to find out

Stage one, expression of interest - we’ll aim to tell you a decision in around 6 weeks.  

Stage two, full application for funding - we’ll aim to tell you a decision in around 6 weeks.

We only have a certain amount of funding to award

We get a lot of applications. This means we have to make some tough decisions around what we can fund.

Check who can and cannot apply before filling out the application form.

More about what we ask for in the application form

We ask for contacts for your application

We ask for the contact details, home addresses and dates of birth of two different people from your organisation. We need a different email address for each person.

One person should be someone we can talk to if we have any questions about your project. The other should be a senior member of your organisation, who'll be legally responsible for the funding. Both need to live in the UK.

These two people cannot be related.

Related can mean:

related by marriage
in a civil partnership with each other
in a long-term relationship with each other
related through a long-term partner
living together at the same address
related by blood.

We ask for the legal name of your organisation - and its address. And what type of organisation it is  

Check these details before applying. Also check any registration numbers if you have them – like a charity number or company number. It will slow down your application if these details are not right.

We ask for information about your organisation’s accounts  

We’ll only fund organisations with an annual income of less than £500,000.

We want to know the date your accounts end each year and how much income you have.

We’ll ask you to submit a copy of your most recently signed-off accounts with your application form. These must show income and expenditure.

If you do not have yearly accounts because you’re a new organisation (less than 15 months old), that’s okay. We can still look at your application.

We ask for information about your community building

For example, we’ll ask what date it was constructed and whether you’ve already got solar panels.

We’ll also ask how often your building is used. You will have to complete and submit our building usage template (there is a link to this in the application form).

We will prioritise buildings that can demonstrate they are well used throughout an average week.

If you’re awarded funding, you’ll need to send us a bank statement

We ask for one bank statement dated within the last three months. So, we can check the account you want us to pay the grant into.

We'll not be able to assess your application if you do not have a bank account and bank statement that meet our requirements below. If you’re not sure you should contact us to check if your bank account and statement are suitable.

We need:

A bank account that meets our needs in our Financial Controls and Financial Governance Guidance
A bank statement that meets our needs - like in this picture of the kind of bank statement we’re looking for.

What we need to see on your bank statement

The bank statement (or bank welcome letter if the account was opened within the last 3 months) must be:

uploaded as one single file
a file of 12MB or less in size
a PDF, JPEG or PNG file.

It should show:

the bank logo
your organisation's legal name
the address the statements are sent to
your bank's name
the account number and sort code
the date the letter/statement was issued.
If all these details are on one page, just send us that page.

What else we’d accept

If you have a new bank account opened within the last three months, we can accept a bank welcome letter instead of a statement. The letter must confirm the date the account was opened and all the account details.

If you’re unable to provide a bank statement, we can accept transaction listings, if they include everything we’d expect to see on a bank statement:

the bank logo
your organisation’s legal name
the address your bank uses for correspondence
your bank’s name
the account number and sort code
date the transactions listing covers.

What we do with your data

To find out how we use the personal data you give us you can read our Data Protection Statement.

Who can apply

You can apply if your organisation is a:   

unregistered voluntary or community organisation
An organisation set up with a governing document - like a constitution. But is not a registered charity or company.
If you get funding we'd expect you to incorporate or become registered with a regulator (for example, the Charity Commission or CIC regulator).
not-for-profit company
A company limited by guarantee - registered with Companies House. And might also be registered as a charity.
registered charity (unincorporated)
A voluntary or community organisation that's a registered charity. But is not a company registered with Companies House.
Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO or SCIO)
A registered charity with limited liability. But is not a company registered with Companies House.
Community Interest Company (CIC)
A company registered with Companies House. And the Community Interest Company (CIC) Regulator.

You need at least 2 board or committee members who are not related

Related can mean:

related by marriage
in a civil partnership with each other
in a long-term relationship with each other
related through a long term partner
living together at the same address
related by blood.

All companies who apply must have at least two directors who are not related in any of these ways. This also applies to companies that are also registered as charities.   

We cannot accept applications from:

sports clubs that are affiliated with a governing body of sport (recognised by Sport Northern Ireland) – for example, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Ulster Rugby and Irish Football Association
individuals
sole traders
faith or religious institutions - like churches, synagogues and mosques. However faith-based groups that are working in a community setting are eligible
organisations based outside Northern Ireland
companies that can pay profits to directors, shareholders or members (including Companies Limited by Shares)
statutory organisations
schools
organisations applying to more than one of our programmes for the same project over the same period. This is because you cannot get duplicate funding for something we're already funding you to do. It’s OK to apply to another programme if you've already had an unsuccessful decision though
one organisation applying on behalf of another.

We do not accept applications written for you by private businesses or consultants

Be careful of businesses or consultants who say they can support you with your funding applications. They might say they’re acting on the Fund’s behalf, or they’re a preferred supplier of the Fund. They could even offer to write an application for you.

We do not accept applications from these types of businesses or consultants.

But it’s ok to get help from support organisations - like your local council or Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA). They may be able to give you support and advice on writing your application.

The projects we fund 

Our funding criteria

To get funding, your organisation must meet the following criteria.

Your community building must have been built before 2005
We want our funding to make a big impact. So we are funding buildings that were constructed before 2005, as they are usually less energy efficient.
For more information, check the land and buildings guidance.
You must own your building or have an unbreakable lease for at least 6 years
We want to invest in community buildings that will benefit from this funding long-term.
If you own the building, we'll ask to see the land registry title (at stage two).
If you lease the building, we'll ask to see your agreement or contract (at stage two).

You must have an annual income of less than £500,000
This is because larger organisations should already be considering sustainability.
You must not have solar panels already
We want our funding to make a big impact. So we are funding buildings that do not already have solar panels, as they are usually less energy efficient.
Your building must be open and used
We want to fund community buildings that are well-used by communities. We’ll ask for details about the number of people who use your building and its opening hours. We’ll prioritise buildings that can demonstrate they are well used throughout an average week.
You must not be solely focused on delivering sports activities
Or be affiliated with a governing body of sport (recognised by Sport Northern Ireland. We’ll still consider your application if sports clubs are part of a range of groups that use your community building. However we cannot fund sports clubs that are affiliated with a governing body of sport – for example, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Ulster Rugby and Irish Football Association.

If your expression of interest is successful, you’ll also need to:

complete carbon literacy training
We ask that two people from your organisation attend the training. It should take around 2 days to complete. These days might not be consecutive.
It must be a committee or board member and a volunteer or staff member that attend.
work with a sustainability expert
We ask that you work with an expert (that we provide) to work out how to improve the environmental performance of your building. You’ll work with them to create an environment plan.

There is no guarantee you’ll get funding to improve your community building

Even if you complete the training and work with the sustainability expert.

This is because we only have a set amount of funding to improve the environmental performance of community buildings and we want to fund where we can make the greatest impact.

Why it’s good to do the carbon literacy training anyway

There is high demand for carbon literacy training across Northern Ireland. It can also be an expensive course. If you complete it, you’ll learn how to reduce your organisation’s impact on the environment, free of charge, which you can use in the future.

As part of our new strategy, future funding will require organisations to consider their environmental sustainability. This training will help you prepare for this, even if you don’t get funding.

We also expect projects that we fund to:

have ideas on how to share the benefits of being more environmentally sustainable with their community
We want you to share what you’ve done to empower others in your community.
monitor, measure and report on the impact of their funding
For example, we’ll want you to track what difference the improvements have made to carbon emissions, energy savings, community engagement and behaviour change.

If you already have funding from us

You can apply if you have a current grant from us. We’ll consider how this funding would complement and affect existing awards when we are assessing your application.      

We'll support projects across Northern Ireland

We want to make sure the funding has a wide reach across Northern Ireland. When making decisions, we’ll consider the location of your building and how often it’s used.

We'll take this into account when assessing your application against others that we receive.

What you can spend money on

What we can fund

If you’re invited to apply for funding to improve your building’s environmental performance, we can fund things like: 

solar panels
battery storage
heat pumps
energy efficient lighting
new insulation
energy-efficient windows and doors.

Every building will need something different. We’ll ask you to work with a sustainability expert to work out exactly what your building might need. These things will be recorded in your environment plan, which will be what you’ll use to apply for funding.     

We cannot fund: 

anything that’s not listed on the environment plan that you create with the sustainability expert 
electric vehicle (EV) charging points
revenue costs for your organisation – like salaries or running costs
activities or events.