In only its second year of operation, the Sustainability Fund has provided over £80,000 in funding to a record-breaking 96 grassroots community projects across the UK in 2022.
What is the Sustainability Fund?
Launched in 2021, the Sustainability Fund aims to help grassroots community projects in transforming their local communities, providing social and environmental benefits. The Fund offers sponsorship, in-kind resources or staff volunteers to support not-for-profit organisations and community groups helping them to make a sustainable impact on their community and achieve ecological transformation.
2022: breaking records
In only its second year of operation, in 2022 the Sustainability Fund welcomed new partnerships with local authorities and was able to support 96 inspiring community projects that aim to enhance biodiversity, promote sustainable waste behaviours, protect or preserve resources and the natural environment or creatively use recycled, reused or reclaimed materials.
Here are some of our highlights:
Warm Cafe - Warm Cafe is an initiative from Southend-on-Sea that saves food waste from local supermarkets, repurposing it into warm food for the local community during the winter months and offering shelter alongside.
Brundall Community River Watch - led by the Brundall Men’s Shed in Broadland, the Watch ensure that the local River Yare is kept clean and saved from pollution through regular litter picking.
Incident Control Unit Green Power - The Fund awarded funding to the Buckinghamshire Lowland Search and Rescue team of volunteers who now have mounted solar panels on their Incident Control Vehicle, saving lives, fuel and the planet.
As we enter a new year, the Sustainability Fund continues to discover local initiatives that could benefit from their support. Applications for funding are open from April 2023, so if you’re looking for funding or resource for your projects, get in touch.
You can find more information about the Sustainability Fund and its application process here.
-Further Reading-
Growing skills and confidence in a West Midlands community garden
In 2011, the Veolia Environmental Trust awarded £100,000 to Ideal for All, a user-led charity and social enterprise based in the West Midlands. A decade on, we visit Barlow Road Community Garden.
Veolia Environmental Trust in full bloom
The Veolia Environmental Trust attended the opening of the Broadgreen Hospital Community Garden in Liverpool, along with Sue Musson, Chair of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.