The Our Local Nature Grant scheme is designed to provide young people with an opportunity to take the lead on projects that involve their local nature and natural spaces, to aid young people in realising their influence to affect positive change, to have their voices heard, and see their ideas come to life.
The Linnean Society therefore fund innovative projects that are designed and led by young people in the UK.
Adult applicants should develop their proposal alongside young people and the projects should seek to empower local young people to enact changes they want to see, such as increasing access to natural spaces and improving understanding of their local biodiversity.
The maximum award is £1,000 per proposal. The Linnean Society welcome and encourage applications for significantly lower amounts - in the last two years they have funded a wide spread of projects ranging from £150 to £1,000. The Society is happy to co-fund any project with other organisations.
This grant is purposefully broad and welcomes novel ideas. Some examples of possible proposals could be: running a school festival about nature; painting community murals showcasing biodiversity in the area; building a community garden; creating a nature walk; hiring a speaker to come and talk about local foraging.
Grants of up to £750 are available from McCarthy Stone Foundation for small charities and community groups bringing together people over 65 at Christmas.
The Community Energy Fund (CEF) is a £10m grant scheme for urban and rural communities to develop energy services to benefit their local area.
Inspire Fund provides funding for projects that engage the public with the topic of dementia and the life-changing research going on into the condition.