Community Funding Opportunities
Fund your Community Project
You may be eligible to apply for funding to help reach your goals. We've compiled a list of some of the current local and national funding opportunities to help your group support wildlife. Find out what funding opportunities are available below.
National Funding Opportunities
Funding opportunities available to community groups across the UK.
Alpkit Foundation
Location: United Kingdom
Funding amount: up to £500
Who can apply?
- Community groups
- Schools
- Not-for-profit organisations
What can they fund?
- Projects that champion education, participation, environment, diversity and health and encourage responsible outdoor activity
Deadline(s): no deadlines
Aviva Community Fund
Location: United Kingdom
Funding amount: up to £50,000
Who can apply?
- Charities or social enterprises (which includes community interest companies) with an annual income of less than £2,000,000
What can they fund?
- Climate Action: promoting healthy, thriving communities by preventing, preparing for a protecting against the impacts of climate change
- Financial Wellbeing: helping people take control of their wellbeing by giving them the tools to be more financially independent and ready for anything
Deadline(s): continuous rolling deadline
Matthew Good Foundation
Location: United Kingdom
Funding amount: £15,000 shared between 5 shortlisted projects
Who can apply?
- Local charities
- Voluntary groups
- Social enterprises that have an average annual income of less than £50,000
What can they fund?
- Projects which make a positive difference to communities, people and the environment
Deadline(s): Quarterly application deadlines
National Lottery - Awards for All England - Environment
Location: England
Funding amount: £300-20,000
Who can apply?
- constituted voluntary or community organisation
- constituted group or club
- registered charity
- charitable incorporated organisation (CIO)
- not-for-profit company
- community interest company (CIC)
- school, if the project helps the local community, not just the school
- statutory body (including local authorities, town, parish, and community councils)
- community benefit society
What can they fund?
The climate and nature emergency affects us all, but local action can make a real difference. We fund community-led projects that improve the environment and help people connect with and enjoy nature where they live.
We fund projects that meet one of the following priorities:
- Help people connect with and care for nature in their area
- Make a positive difference to the environment
You can use the funding to:
- start a new activity or continue an existing one
- help your organisation adapt to new challenges
- run one-off events that have a clear environmental benefit
Deadline(s): 17th December 2025
Southall Trust
Location: United Kingdom
Funding amount: up to £5,000
Who can apply?
- Charities that show creativity and innovation in their work.
- Charities that promote social justice, inclusion and diversity.
- Charities that challenge structural inequalities and injustice.
- Charities making good use of volunteers.
- Charities that are engaged with their local community and show clear evidence of support from within it (e.g. through local giving, volunteering and/or partnerships).
What can they fund?
- Actions and activities that have a positive impact on the natural environment
Deadline(s): Open
Woodland Trust - Free Trees for Schools and Communities
Location: United Kingdom
Funding amount: not specified
Who can apply?
- Schools across the UK, plus nurseries, colleges, universities and outdoor learning centres
- All kinds of different groups such as resident associations, sports clubs, parish councils, scouts, guides and many more
- You don’t need to belong to an official organisation
What can they fund?
Free tree packs.
Packs come in eight different species mixes of 15, 30, 105 or 420 saplings to accommodate every project and give everyone chance to plant a tree. Whether you’re growing an outdoor classroom, sheltering a sports pitch or transforming your neighbourhood, get involved and make a real difference for people and nature where you live, work or play.
- Schools: trees should be planted on either the school grounds, land the school has arranged regular access to or in an area that is publicly accessible
- Community Groups: trees should be planted on land which is accessible to the public
- You should also make sure that your local community is aware of your plans to plant and are happy for you to go ahead
Deadline(s): 2 deadlines per annum. The Woodland Trust is currently taking applications for tree packs to be delivered in March 2026. Applications are expected to close in January 2026. You will know within 8 weeks if your application has been successful.
Suez Community Fund Grants
Location:
To be eligible for a SUEZ Communities Fund grant in England, your project must be located within one of the active funding zones. A funding zone is the area surrounding a qualifying site owned by the donor, SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK. Please check the Postcode Checker, to confirm your eligibility, before you apply.
Check the Postcode Checker
Funding amount: Up to £50,000 to not-for-profit organisations in England
Who can apply?
- Voluntary organisations, community groups / associations, sports clubs (note exclusion criteria regarding membership restrictions), local and national Charities
- Parish Community Councils / Town Councils
- Local Authorities
- Social enterprises and Community Interest Companies operating on a non-profit-distributing basis. These are defined by Social UK as ‘businesses that trade to tackle social problems, improve communities, people’s life chances, or the environment. They make their money from selling goods and services in the open market, but they reinvest their profits back into the business or the local community.
These organisations must have a minimum of three unrelated Directors, that also do not reside at the same address.
What can they fund?
Grants are available for community projects delivering capital improvements to public amenities. Examples may include:
- Village hall improvements
- Nature reserves and conservation
- Village greens
- Community centres
- Public playgrounds
- Cycle paths
- Sports fields and facilities
- Country parks
- Historic buildings, structures or sites (improvements to places of religious worship will only be considered if Grade I designated. Projects to improve other historic buildings, structures or sites must be Grade I, II or II* or have another significant heritage designation i.e. Scheduled Ancient Monument)
Deadline(s): 19th November, midnight
Morrisons Foundation
Location: United Kingdom
Funding amount: Up to £10,000 for capital spend or direct project delivery.
Who can apply?
Registered charities making a positive difference in local communities in England, Wales and Scotland.
The Morrisons Foundation prioritises applications from small charities, those with an income of less than £1m, but applications from larger charities are welcome.
What can they fund?
Applications should deliver on (at least) one of three objectives to be considered for support, these are:
1. Tackling poverty and social deprivation;
2. Enhancing community spaces, facilities and services;
3. Improving health and wellbeing.
Deadline(s): Applications are accepted and reviewed on a continual basis, there is no deadline for requests to be submitted
Local Funding Opportunities
Funding opportunities available to community groups within Surrey.
Surrey County Council - Community Nature Recovery Grant
Location: Surrey
Funding amount: £500 to £5,000 - in exceptional circumstances 1 or 2 projects may be awarded up to £10,000
Who can apply?
- Community groups (CIO, CIC, CBS etc)
- NGOs – on behalf of community groups
- Parish and town councils
- Local action groups
- Species recording groups
What can they fund?
Direct nature recovery action e.g. pond creation or installation of swift boxes
Equipment to support the work of community groups e.g. tools or wildlife recording kits.
- Governance and training support for community groups e.g. training and advice on ecology and nature recovery
Deadline(s): Friday 7th November 2025
Community Foundation for Surrey
Location: Surrey
Funding amount: average grant is £6,000
Who can apply?
- Registered charities
- CIO
- Charitable Trusts
- Voluntary and community groups
- Faith groups, where the project clearly benefits the wider community
- Educational establishments for exceptional projects that fall outside statutory support
- Organisations with a potential national reach
- Community Benefit Societies with charitable status
- CASC (Community Amateur Sports Club)
- Not for profit organisations such as CICs
- Small and newly formed groups which are not constituted or cannot meet the eligibility criteria may apply under the umbrella of another group
What can they fund?
- Charitable activities and projects
- Core costs / essential running costs
- New projects
- Pilot projects
- Existing projects
- Repeat/continuation funding for projects
- Staff costs
- Full cost recovery to cover overheads which relate to projects
- Small capital costs (typically items under £10,000 such as specialist equipment, tools and materials, IT kit etc.)
- Emergency funding requests
Deadline(s): 4 per annum
Downlands Trust
Location: Surrey
Funding amount: up to £3,000
Who can apply?
- Not specified
What can they fund?
- Promoting the conservation, protection and improvement of the countryside
- Encouraging access to the countryside for all
- Promoting the health and social benefits of becoming involved in a local practical conservation work group
Deadline(s): unknown
Godalming Town Council Grant
Location: Godalming
Funding amount: up to £1,000
Who can apply?
- Not specified
What can they fund?
- Local community projects and activities that benefit the residents of Godalming
- Projects need to fit the Town Council’s vision and priorities
- Priority will be given to groups with match funding or that can lever in other funds
Deadline(s): 3 deadlines per annum
Guildford Aspire Community Grants
Location: Guildford
Funding amount: up to £1,000
Who can apply?
- Charities
- Social enterprises
- Community groups
- Voluntary organisations
- Organisations receiving funding from the council through separate funding agreements are not eligible
What can they fund?
- Projects that involve local communities actively working with partners to improve where they live, in ways that matter to them
Deadline(s): 1 deadline per year.
Lower Mole Countryside Trust
Location: Mole Valley, north Surrey and Kingston upon Thames
Funding amount: up to £500
Who can apply?
- Local groups, schools, associations and Lower Mole Partnership
What can they fund?
Conservation and access projects
- The following are the criteria for applications:
Must be in accordance with the aims of the Trust
Should be visible to the public and/or of benefit to the public
If the proposal relates to conservation interest it must be in line with the relevant Habitat Action Plan or Species Action Plan
If the proposal improves public access it must not be detrimental to any conservation interest
It should be supported by the local community.
Deadline(s): unknown
Nature Based Solutions funding for landowners & managers
If you are a landowner or manage land you may be able to obtain funding for certain restoration or intervention works on your land.