Call for Entries: Thalia WB Community Fund (UK)

Deadline: 01-Mar-2025

The Thalia WB Community Fund offers grants for capital projects to improve the local environment, including public buildings and amenities, habitats and architecture.

The fund can award grants for the provision, maintenance or improvement of a public park or other general public amenity; the conservation of a specific species or a specific habitat where it naturally occurs, or the repair, maintenance or restoration of a place of worship or a place of architectural importance.

Funding Information

• Grants will be offered in range of £10,000 to £100,000, with the exception of requests under Object DA where the minimum threshold is £5,000).
• Groups applying should be aware for their cash flow planning that grants will be paid in one instalment on completion of the project when evidence of expenditure, photographs and CTP cheque have been provided. (For grants over £20,000 two instalments can be requested – one during the project, the other on completion of the project. The minimum size for these instalments is £10,000).

Eligible Area

• Cambridgeshire (excluding Peterborough)

Eligible Projects

• Your project must: 
  • Be in accordance with LCF themes, known as Objects. 
  • Be in Cambridgeshire but please note the Fund does not cover Peterborough 
  • Be within 10 miles (as crow flies) of any licensed landfill site in Cambridgeshire.
  • Be able to contribute 11% of the value of the grant you are seeking to the Landfill Operator (ie Thalia WB ODC Waste Management). This is additional to the project costs. 
  • Be ready to start as soon as you find out that your project is approved. This is usually within six months from the Expression of Interest deadline. Ready to start means you have secured the majority of your funding, have obtained planning permission, have established costs and identified potential contractors. Please note you must not have started, or committed to, any project work (ie orders placed) before your application has been approved and you have signed and returned your terms and conditions.

Eligibility Criteria

• Your organisation must:
  • Be not for profit and have a constitution, Equal Opportunity Policy, Safeguarding Policy, Conflict of Interest Policy, Access Statement, an independent management committee and two independent signatories on the bank account. Polices should be up to date to reflect current legislation and be signed and dated.
  • Either own the land or building where the project is taking place or have a longterm lease (with a minimum of 10 years remaining). In some cases, a management agreement is acceptable.

Application Requirements

• Organisation requirements
  • Before considering making an application, please review your organisational capacity. Your organisation should have the resources to deal competently with the application process. Whilst past experience of making a funding request is not necessarily needed, familiarity with budgets, cash flow, VAT, procurement and policy documentation is advantageous. Overall, the process is detailed and will require someone’s committed attention.
  • Your organisation must be operating not for profit and have the following:
    • Constitution
    • Equal Opportunity Policy
    • Safeguarding Policy
    • Conflict of Interest Policy
    • Access Statement
    • An independent management committee
    • Two independent signatures on the bank account.
• Project requirements
  • Project must meet the following requirements to be eligible:
    • They need to be well developed. You should have a good idea of costs based on professional estimates, have secured the majority of your funding from other sources, have planning permission, have identified potential contractors etc.;
    • Be in Cambridgeshire within 10 miles of any licensed landfill site in Cambridgeshire (excluding Peterborough). Click here to find your local landfill sites or contact Entrust for the most up-to-date landfill site locations.
    • Be able to contribute 11% of the value of the grant you are seeking, on top of the project costs. If you are offered a grant, this 11% sum must be paid to Thalia ODC Ltd in order to release the grant funding. If you fundraise for this contribution, you must let donors know that the contribution is separate from the project costs;
    • Be capable of starting work within 6 months from when you submit your expression of interest. However, you must not have made any financial commitment (e.g. signed a contract for work to be delivered) before you apply. A financial commitment to a contractor or any other supplier must only be made once the formal grant offer letter is received, otherwise your project will not be eligible to receive a grant.
    • Projects must be in accordance with Entrust’s Objects D, DA and E, as listed below:
      • Object D– The provision, maintenance or improvement of a public park or other general public amenity. Projects which do not relate to a park must relate to another amenity (this excludes car parking facilities). According to the 2010 guidance, “an amenity is something that makes the environment more pleasant or comfortable and/or improves the aesthetic qualities of an area for the general public”.
      • Object DA – The conservation of a specific species or a specific habitat where it naturally occurs.
      • Object E – The repair, maintenance or restoration of a building or structure which is a Place of Religious Worship or a Place of Historical or Architectural Importance, which is open to the general public (and the public should benefit from the project going forward), and it is situated in the vicinity of a landfill site. This objective does not allow works to private residences.

For more information, visit Cambridgeshire Community Foundation.