Deadline: 12-Oct-22
The Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE’s) is offering grants for Local Environment Fund to support oxfordshire communities to take action to restore nature and promote public access to green spaces.
This is TOE’s original grant programme for community groups and other charitable or non-profit organisations throughout Oxfordshire.
The network is intended to improve, expand and connect habitats to address the decline in wildlife. Providing wider environmental benefits for people is also key to this plan. The Nature Recovery Network takes existing protected sites to be the best areas for wildlife, and the core of any network, but wider action is needed to support nature’s recovery by extending and linking these existing sites, both to support wildlife and to recover the range of economic and social benefits that nature provides.
Priorities
- Biodiversity – projects that create protect and enhance natural habitats, allowing wildlife to thrive and supporting nature’s recovery; and/or projects that improve the quality, quantity and coverage of voluntary species recording.
- Access – projects that improve public access to green spaces and the countryside, helping people connect with nature.
Types of Projects
The types of projects that TOE might support include
- Kirtlington Wildlife and Conservation Society were awarded a grant for their project to restore the village pond.
- TOE contributed funding to the Freshwater Habitats Trust’s project which is restoring rare alkaline fens at several sites around Oxford.
- Greening Chinnor was given a grant for their project to restore Keens Lane community orchard.
- Oxford Urban Wildlife Group received a grant for restoring the ponds, improving the ground flora in the wooded areas and creating a wildflower meadow at Boundary Brook Nature Park.
- Brightwell-cum-Sotwell Environment Group was given a grant towards their project to restore the village’s community woodland and to deculverting the ‘allotment stream’ to provide wildlife with access to water.
Funding Information
- Grants of up to £10,000
Eligible Projects
Eligible biodiversity projects should:
- Improve the overall biodiversity of habitats including woodlands, ponds, rivers, meadows, green spaces and the wider countryside.
- Improving biodiversity of urban green spaces.
- Improve breeding or habitat conditions for particular species, e.g. planting nectar rich plants for bumblebees.
- Improve the quality, quantity and/or coverage of voluntary species recording in Oxfordshire and Berkshire
Eligible access projects should:
- Creating new links, circular routes and traffic-free routes
- Replacing stiles with gates
- Improving path surfaces, signs and route-marking
- Promoting the wider use of the countryside and green spaces, and linking with local facilities.
Eligibility Criteria
- TOE can fund not-for-profit organisations including voluntary groups, Parish Councils, charities and Community Interest Companies. Local Authorities such as County and District Councils may also apply for grants, but TOE generally prefers applications to be submitted by local community groups or charities.
Note: Please note that you cannot re-apply for a grant for a project which has previously been rejected.
Ineligibility
- They cannot fund projects which fulfil a statutory requirement or a requirement of planning permission.
- Most projects funded by TOE should involve capital works to improve a site. They do not fund revenue costs alone but can support a small proportion of revenue costs which are directly related to the delivery of practical projects.
- They do not to fund the production of leaflets.
- TOE does not fund bird seed or other food used to attract species in survey work.
For more information, visit TOE.
For more information, visit https://www.trustforoxfordshire.org.uk/main-fund