What is it? Supported by the Big Lottery Fund and managed by Groundwork UK, the £57.5m Community Spaces fund was set up in 2008 to empower people to create or improve green spaces in their communities, thus creating better environments for children to play in and safer places to be enjoyed by everyone in the community.
How much is on offer? Small grants of between £10,000 and £25,000 and medium grants of between £25,001 and £49,000 are available.
What will it fund? Proposed projects that look to make lasting improvements to green community areas such as gardens and parks; areas used for informal games and sports; village greens; play areas; nature reserves; and ponds. The fund encourages applications from youth groups for youth-led projects that demonstrate how young people will be involved, but the main project contact and applicant must be over 18.
Who can apply? Only applications from community groups will be considered, defined by the fund as "people living in one particular area and focused on a neighbourhood, who are considered as a unit because of their common interests, background, nationality or other circumstances". The fund will be closing in the new year, so this is the last call for grant applications. The deadline is 12 noon on Friday 7 January 2011.
Find out more www.community-spaces.org.uk
FUNDING NEWS IN BRIEF
A young people's charity in Essex has been awarded £23,000 from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales. Young Peoples Project provides education, advice and guidance to teenage parents and young people not in education, employment or training.
Outdoor play charity Learning through Landscapes has created an award scheme for all early years settings and schools in Greater London to improve their outdoor space. The programme will be funded by the John Laing Charitable Trust, and participants will automatically be eligible to apply for funding in 2011. www.ltl.org.uk
The Chapman Charitable Trust offers voluntary organisations grants of up to £2,000 for charitable purposes in areas such as social services, health, and education and research. For more information, email cct@crouchchapman.co.uk.
