Volunteering Matters’ ‘Action Earth’ Fund offers grants to help urban communities respond to our nature and climate crises. Funded by NatureScot, these nature grants support volunteers of all ages, backgrounds and abilities in practical outdoor activities in Scotland’s cities, towns and villages. They are looking to support environmental projects across Scotland with grants of up to £250 available to support volunteers carrying out habitat creation and improvements on sites in cities, towns, villages and surrounding areas.
Any group of volunteers in urban areas are able to apply to run environmental activities in Scotland’s green spaces in built-up places and centres of population and their surroundings. Activities should emphasise local nature enrichment and biodiversity improvements. This could include creating or improving community gardens, shared spaces, wildflower meadows, ponds and wetlands, community woodlands and building other wildlife habitats. Grants can be used to purchase plants, tools and materials.
To be eligible, projects must:
- Involve practical outdoor activity by volunteers in Scotland, making environmental improvements to urban green spaces – planting projects, wildlife habitat creation etc.
- Have a minimum of 15 volunteers involved in the project, each giving at least 5 hours of volunteering time
- Plan to work on sites which are accessible to the general public
- Use non-peat compost if this is one of your purchases (plants, tools, materials and volunteer expenses can be claimed) and plant native species only
Action Earth cannot support applications for activities which are primarily about food growing.
Applications are prioritised from volunteer groups that do any of the following:
- Work in areas where there is substantial social or economic deprivation
- Improve and develop the health and wellbeing of their local community
- Involve disabled people, vulnerable people or those at risk of exclusion
- Encourage and involve people under 26 in practical outdoor conservation
- Make major environmental impacts and/or involve mass participation.
Projects must be completed by 31 January 2025.
For more information, and to apply, please see the Volunteering Matters website.
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