Climate Action Fund
The Climate Action Fund is currently closed for applications
Staffordshire County Council has committed to reducing the climate change impacts arising from its buildings and services and recognises the need to adapt to our changing climate.
The importance of working with others to reduce the climate change impact across all of Staffordshire is a priority.
This climate change action fund offers funding assistance to local communities to build resilience and reduce Staffordshire’s contributions to climate change.
The funding is open to properly constituted, not-for profit organisations, including charities, societies, voluntary and community groups, parish councils and schools. The County Council is not able to fund individuals.
There are four categories applicants can apply for funding under:
Category 1 - Reducing carbon impact or adapting to our changing climate
Examples include:
- Reducing energy demand, through:
- Changing to more energy efficient appliances, LED lighting and lower carbon heating.
- Reducing heat loss of buildings, for example improving insulation and reducing draughts.
- Electric vehicle charging points accessible by communities.
- Installing renewable technologies.
- Awareness raising on what we all can do to make a difference for climate change
- Reduction in water use including rainwater capture initiatives.
- Projects which can help to reduce the impact of extreme weather such as heavy rain, drought, wind and extreme temperatures. For example:
- Reducing the speed of runoff from hard surfaces
- Tree planting and/or land use change to slow water flow along watercourses/floodplains
- Providing temporary shade for buildings to reduce overheating in summer
Category 2 - Improving air quality
Examples include reducing pollution by encouraging alternatives to car use, such as walking and cycling initiatives.
Category 3 - Natural environment
Examples include tree, shrub or hedge planting (individual trees or shrubs can be funded up to £25 each).
Category 4 - Reducing waste
Examples include minimising waste creation, for example repair initiatives, waste reduction or encouraging on site composting.
Projects can apply for £500 - £3,000 and must receive support from a County Councillor.
Each Councillor can allocate up to £1,500 per project. You can approach more than one Councillor as long as the benefits can be realised across the divisional areas applied to.
There is no requirement for match funding. If an application requires additional funding to deliver the project this must be secured before applying.
To apply for funding, you must speak with the County Councillor/s you are seeking funding from and receive in principal support before submitting an application.
All County Councillors which have offered in principal support for the application must be listed on the application form and the amount each respective Councillor has offered in principle specified.
Please see the list of County Councillors on our website for contact details.
There must be a clear breakdown of the costs presented in the application. Any element which exceeds £100 must be supported with at least one quote.
The funding application form is hosted on our website and your application should be submitted online via that form where possible. If you require a printed copy of the application form and guidance this can be requested from sustainability@staffordshire.gov.uk.
Please note: by submitting a funding application you will be confirming that you accept the council’s funding conditions as set out in this guide at the time of application. Organisations not accepting these at the time of applying will not be eligible for funding support.
Apply online
Application deadlines
The Climate change action fund will have two phases for assessment. Please note all funds may be committed for your area during Phase 1 and there is no guarantee funding will be available in your area for Phase 2. Early applications are therefore recommended.
Phase 1: 30 September 2022
Phase 2: 23 December 2022
Your County Councillor will consider your application and may request additional information if it is felt further clarification on the project is required.
You will be notified if your project has been successful :
Phase 1: Before 31 October 2022.
Phase 2: Before 31 January 2023.
An offer of grant will be issued to successful applicants. Funding will be released on receipt of a formal grant acceptance.
Only one project can be submitted per group or society.
Projects can apply for funding up to a maximum of £1,500 per County Councillor, a minimum of £500 applies.
Projects can apply to more than one County Councillor, the grant application total should not exceed £3,000. In principle support must be received from all County Councillors named on the application form before submission.
If applying for trees or shrubs a maximum of £25 per item applies.
Project funding must be spent by 30 June 2023.
If the project cannot go ahead as planned sustainability@staffordshire.gov.uk must be notified to discuss requirements. If you have already received funding, any element which will not be delivered must be repaid in full within 6 months of receiving the funding unless specifically agreed otherwise.
To receive funding, groups must be properly constituted and not-for-profit.
Funding will only be awarded for new projects and not retrospectively.
If the project proposes a change in land management or changes to property this must have written approval of the landowner.
Where relevant it must be demonstrated that the project can be appropriately maintained and funded longer term without reliance on additional unsecured external funding.
By accepting a grant, you agree that you have not received funding from other sources for the same elements as applied for from the Climate change action fund.
Acknowledgement of Staffordshire County Council and the funding awarded must be made on all promotional material associated with the project. The Staffordshire County Council logo can be provided on request for this purpose. This logo should not be modified. Staffordshire County Council must be allowed to visit the project or see project activities as reasonably requested. If any media events are arranged to promote the project the County Councillor must be invited to attend.
By accepting the grant, you agree to submitting a summary of the project within two months of completion. This should be submitted together with invoices to detail spend against the items offered in the grant. Staffordshire County Council reserve the right to produce a case study of the project for publication.
By accepting the grant you agree to information on the project and the funding awarded to be publicly available.
The council cannot award funding for the following things:
- Any activity that discriminates on the basis of race, religion, gender, nationality, disability, age or sexual orientation
- Staff costs or salaries of any kind
- Activity to make a commercial profit
- Projects run for the benefit of an individual person
- Any ongoing running costs of existing activity e.g. insurance, fees, rent, transport
- Formal education
- Any predominantly religious activity (but this does not preclude religious organisations from making bids for non-religious activity)
- Any political activity
- A statutory responsibility or services generally resourced from/by other statutory organisations
- Projects for the benefit of residents predominantly from outside Staffordshire
If you feel you have a project that may achieve the outcomes required but are concerned by the restrictions above discuss this with your County Councillor ahead of making the application
Depending on the nature of your support project, the County Council may need to be assured that you have appropriate safeguarding procedures, appropriate insurance etc.
As a public organisation we are subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 and, as such, where we collect any personal data from you as part of the application process we will only use it for this purpose and no other. Your personal data will never be shared with anyone else and will be retained only for as long as it is needed. Non-personal data you submit to use as part of this application process will be used to make decisions to award funding, perform anonymised analysis, or to undertake publicity or fundraising. For more information on how Staffordshire County Council handles personal data, please see our Privacy Notice.
Please bear in mind that as part of the above, your organisation name will be published alongside the ‘summary for publicity’ you provide in your application, the amount awarded, and the councillor supporting, on the County Council’s website. It is important that we can show transparency over where the funding has been used.