Grants, funding and incentives
- The Council’s Zero Carbon Communities grant scheme is a possible source of funding for energy improvements to community buildings, cycling and tree planting
- If you're a member of a voluntary or community group in South Cambridgeshire, you can apply to the Community Chest Grants scheme for funding of up to £2,000 to support your activities. The Community Chest takes applications throughout the year and funds projects which meet the eligibility criteria on a first come first served basis until the fund runs out. 50% of the fund is released in April and 50% in October. The grant is made up of three streams of funding: £58,140 for the Community Chest, £10,000 for Biodiversity Grants, and £50,000 for Community-Led Plans.
- Grant Grabber is a self-serve facility for any voluntary and community groups and Parish Councils wishing to search for funding opportunities for community projects. The scheme enables users to search online at any time of the day through the Council's website
- Rural Community Energy Fund A BEIS‐funded scheme to give grants for the development costs of community owned renewable energy projects, such as solar farms and wind turbines - run by the 5 regional Local Energy Hubs. They provide grants for feasibility studies of up to £100k. For this area, the fund is administered by the Greater South East Net Zero Hub.
- The non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) helps businesses, public sector and non-profit organisations meet the cost of installing renewable heat technologies. Payments are made over 20 years and are based on the heat output of your system. You can claim for:
- biomass
- heat pumps (ground source, water source and air source)
- deep geothermal
- solar thermal collectors
- biomethane and biogas
- combined heat and power (CHP) systems
- The Woodland Trust provides free trees for schools and communities
- PEBBLE fund is a biodiversity improvement fund from Cambridge Water and funds projects that are looking to improve, restore or create habitat within the Cambridge Water supply area.
- The Queen’s Green Canopy is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 which invites people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee.”
- Carbon Footprint Ltd, an environmental consultancy, is looking for sites to plant trees in Cambridgeshire. If you can plant the trees yourself, please contact us and we will put you in touch with them.
- A £50 million Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme has been set up by the Government to encourage farmers and landowners to plant more trees and help to tackle climate change. The scheme allows the creation of new woodland in return for guaranteed payments from government every five or 10 years up until 2055/56 as those trees grow.
- The National Churches Trust aims to protect and support the built heritage of churches, chapels and meeting houses throughout the UK
- Salix funding- funded by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and provides funding for energy efficiency projects across local authority estates. Over 100 energy efficiency technologies are supported, including boilers, combined heat and power, insulation, LED and lighting upgrades.
- Charity Bank- an ethical bank which lends to charities, social enterprises and other organisations where the loan is being used for a social purpose.
- Triodos Bank- offer a choice of accounts and services for charities, including loans, savings, investments and a current account.