Over the last six weeks, Tesco has been inviting local charities and groups to bid for up to £12,000 in community funds, to be used towards environmental improvement projects. Groundwork is administering the funding and assessing applications. The deadline for applications has now been extended to Friday 11th December.
The money raised from the 5p bag charge in Tesco stores in England, Wales and Scotland will be used to pay for a large number of local projects to improve green spaces in communities. Projects that will get the green light as a result of the funding will include building new pocket parks, sports facilities, woodland walks and community gardens.
Six grants per year will be awarded in each of the 428 Tesco regions to make sure the funding is spread evenly across England, Wales and Scotland. In total the community grant scheme will support around 2,500 projects each year.
What can the Grants Fund?
It will fund capital projects that provide community benefit and there is no charge to access.
The grants programme will be open to organisations such as: voluntary/community organisations, registered charities, health bodies, Parish/Town councils, social enterprises, Community Interest Companies, schools, hospices, community councils, local authorities and housing organisations. Other not-for-profit organisations might also be eligible.
Projects that would typically receive funding include:
- Parks, pocket parks and urban green spaces
- Green corridors – river and canals, cycle ways
- Formal and informal play areas
- Open access sports facilities within public parks and recreation grounds – eg football pitches, tennis courts and cricket pitches
- Informal outdoor recreation facilities; eg gym equipment, trim trails and woodland walks
- Nature reserves, community woodland, ponds and village greens
- Churchyards
- Seafront improvements
- Community allotments, community gardens, orchards and city farms
- Spaces in the grounds of hospices and day centres
- Allotments
- School grounds
- Community spaces on housing estates or residential areas
There’s no match funding requirement to access this grant, but the grant should be the majority of the funding required for your project, which could be a stand-alone project or a discrete, self-contained part of a larger project or part of a phased project and will need to be delivered within twelve months of receipt of the grant. Landowner’s permission is essential and you might also need planning permission.
Find out more eligibility here.