The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF)’s Climate Action Fund (CAF) supports communities across the UK to take action on climate change over 10 years, through people-led work and activities.

CAF is part of TNLCF’s Environment Strategy. Since April 2013, the Fund has awarded more than £450 million, through over 7,500 grants, to projects that focus on improving the environment to enhance communities and people’s lives.

Funding is available throughout the UK, and best suited to community-led partnerships.

In 2020, funding was awarded to 23 projects across the UK as part of the first round of the CAF programme, supporting communities to respond to the climate emergency.

This second round will focus on supporting medium-scale to large-scale projects addressing waste and consumption. TNLCF’s focus remains on place-based, community-led partnerships making the changes in their community which they believe will have the biggest impact on climate change.

At this initial application stage, they are interested in hearing about the project, the long-term vision and aims, and how the community has been involved in shaping and deciding what will be done. This application should come from one lead partner, which should be one of the eligible types of organisation listed in “Who can and cannot apply” (list available the bottom of the linked page).

With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, TNLCF will continue to work flexibly. This will also need to be the same for projects in adapting to any new guidance or restrictions.

Two types of funding are available in this round: development funding and full awards. The maximum grant size for development funding is £150,000. For full awards, the maximum available is £1.5 million.

A total of around £8 – 10 million is available for this round of funding. TNLCF expect to make 12 – 15 awards in total, and to award more development grants than full awards.

The deadline for initial applications is 5pm on Thursday 8^th April.

If your application is successful at this stage, TNLCF expects the rest of the application process to take 6 – 8 months.

To apply, or for further information, please visit the TNLCF website.