Freshwater Community Grant Fund FAQs

The Freshwater Community Grant Fund is aimed at providing funding for small-scale projects, events and activities which:

• Help to create, look after or improve local freshwater habitats
  and
• provide opportunities for people to connect with nature.

You can apply for a grant of between £500 and £5,000 to cover the eligible costs of your project. Grants can be awarded for up to 100 per cent of the eligible costs and we aim to award £75,000 over the course of the Freshwater Renaissance Programme.

We’d like to support many different types of projects, so if you’re unsure about whether your project will meet these objectives, you can email us at Freshwatercommunitygrant@nationaltrust.org.uk to check.

The fund is now open and accepting applications. We will continue to accept them until all funds have been allocated, or until the end of the fund on 31 December 2025, whichever comes first. Please send in your application as soon as it's ready.

We welcome all ideas that meet our objectives. Some suggested ideas for projects include:

• Creating a new wildlife pond or wetland habitat with local volunteers

• Working with the community to improve an existing pond, river or wetland habitat

• Delivering training or skills-building activities to help communities look after freshwater habitats

• Organising a community river clean up or litter pick day

• Hosting a citizen science day at a freshwater habitat

• Working with the local community to install an interpretation board at a freshwater habitat

• Creating a website for an existing freshwater project.

The funding is ideal for anyone looking to run projects, events or activities in 2025. The earliest a project can start is 27 January 2025 and it must be completed by 31 December 2025.

This is because the Freshwater Community Grant Fund is funded by the Government's Species Survival Fund, which is a short-term programme of work that must be complete by the end of 2025.

We appreciate that you'll need time to plan your project and that the timing of some activities may depend on the seasons. This is why you can apply now. If you have any questions about the timing of your project, please email us at Freshwatercommunitygrant@nationaltrust.org.uk.

We'll award 50 per cent of the grant at the start of the project and 50 per cent once it's confirmed as complete. The initial 50 per cent will be paid after you've provided the following documents as proof of your organisation's eligibility to apply:

• Your organisation’s constitution or formal rules as proof of not-for-profit status (unless you are a public sector organisation)

• Proof of a UK registered bank account, linked to your group/organisation, into which any grant monies will be paid

• A signed copy of your most recently audited accounts. If you cannot provide this, you’ll need to explain why and supply three months of bank statements

• A copy of your safeguarding policy

• A copy of a valid Certificate of Public Liability Insurance.

If your project involves work to land or other capital works, you must also provide:

• Relevant consents, permissions and proof of ownership (see below for additional guidance).

We will also require you to sign a grant agreement letter, which outlines the terms of the grant.

The remaining 50 per cent of the grant will be paid in arrears once the project has ended and after you have submitted a satisfactory end of project report and financial evidence.

No, grants can be awarded for up to 100 per cent of the eligible costs. However, where projects can secure match funding from other sources this will be taken into account when we assess the project’s ‘value for money.’

In-kind or non-monetary contributions towards the project, including volunteer time, will also be considered and should be included in your application.

We welcome applications from projects for which the Freshwater Community Grant will act as match funding for a wider project, as long as the match funding has been secured by the time the project is due to start and as long as the project will be complete by 31 December 2025.

There are some things that you can't apply for – please find a list of them below. Note that this isn't an exhaustive list.

• Projects and activity outside the project area(s)
• Projects or activities that do not in some way lead to the creation, care or improvement of freshwater habitats
• Projects or activities that have already started
• Projects which generate private gain or profit
• Organisational overheads/running costs
• Routine maintenance work
• Carrying out statutory duties
• Costs of making planning applications or other statutory permissions
• Recoverable VAT
• Costs related to promoting the cause or beliefs of political or faith organisations
• Costs related to lobbying and/or activity to influence legislative or regulatory action
• Costs incurred before a grant is awarded
• Full cost recovery for organisations which are not charities
• Redundancy costs
• Cost of land acquisition
• Research
• Costs already covered through other funding, for example from other funds from Defra or Natural England
• Habitat works or activity that is part of an existing agri-environment agreement.

The Freshwater Community Grant Fund is designed for small-scale projects, events and activities. It's therefore unable to support the day-to-day running costs of an organisation or group. Costs such as fees for a contractor, a consultant or for a service, are eligible for funding however.

Please download the application form and follow the instructions to complete and submit your application.

If you require an alternative format for the application and guidance documents, please email us at Freshwatercommunitygrant@nationaltrust.org.uk and we'll aim to provide this for you. Please bear in mind this may take additional time.

The maximum grant amount is £5,000. However, we welcome applications from projects for which the Freshwater Community Grant will act as match funding for a wider project with higher costs, as long as the match funding has been secured by the time the project is due to start and as long as the project will be completed by 31 December 2025.

Projects must take place within the Freshwater Renaissance project areas, which means anywhere within a 20-mile radius of:

• Arlington Court, near Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 4LP
• The Holnicote Estate, near Minehead, Somerset, TA24 8TJ
• The Bickling Estate, Aylsham, Norfolk, NR11 6NF
• Dunham Massey, Woodhouse Lane, Altrincham, WA14 4SJ
• Acorn Bank, Temple Sowerby, near Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 1SP; or the town of Cockermouth, Western Lakes, Cumbria.

Projects should take place within the Freshwater Renaissance project areas listed above and should involve and benefit communities who live within these areas.

However, we are open to projects where some participants live outside these areas, as long as the majority of communities involved live within them. Please email us to discuss this at Freshwatercommunitygrant@nationaltrust.org.uk

If the project and participants are located within the Freshwater Renaissance areas, then an organisation from outside of the area can apply. However, we will need to see how you are linked to the communities within the project area and what other organisations you plan to work with. If you're unsure about whether your project is eligible, please email us at Freshwatercommunitygrant@nationaltrust.org.uk

One of the criteria we will review is how your project offers value for money. Our assessment will be based on the information you've supplied in your application. We will take into account:

• Cost vs. benefit (cost of the project or activities relative to the benefits of the project)
• Match funding
• Volunteer time
• In-kind contributions
• Best value costs e.g. equipment and transport.

We want to hear about your most viable ideas, so we are only accepting one application per organisation, group or individual. However, if you successfully complete one project with the fund, or if your first application is unsuccessful, you can apply again. If you have several project ideas, you may wish to speak to a member of the Freshwater Renaissance Project team for advice. You can email us at Freshwatercommunitygrant@nationaltrust.org.uk.

If we have everything we need, the Community Grants Advisory Panel will assess your application against a set of criteria and aim to inform you of its decision within 8-12 weeks, but this could be up to 20 weeks in some cases.

If there is information or documents missing from your application, we will not be able to assess it and may ask you to resubmit a completed application.

Successful applicants will be notified once a decision has been made. We will then issue a grant agreement letter for you to review and return. This will include terms and conditions to ensure the grant and project meets National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Trust requirements. This agreement needs to be signed by the authorised signatory for your organisation (the grantee) and returned to us before your project can begin.

You will have six weeks to sign the grant agreement letter. If we do not receive a signed copy back from you in this time then the grant offer will be withdrawn.

The project itself must be completed by 31 December 2025.

Your group or organisation must have a UK-registered bank account for the grant to be paid into (or provide evidence that they can use the bank account of an affiliated organisation). We will ask you to provide evidence of the bank account and payments will be made using those details.

The payment could take up to six weeks to be processed after we have received your signed grant agreement letter and the required documentation, but we will aim to pay you as soon as possible.

We will send you guidance on how to acknowledge the grant funding you have received. This will include acknowledging the Species Survival Fund and using its logos during activities and in content you produce.

You must complete your project by 31 December 2025, including the completion and submission of your final report. During this time, we will contact you for project updates (the number of updates will depend on how long the project will take). At the end of your project, grantees will be required to submit the below by 31 December 2025:

• An end of project report (a template will be provided with your grant agreement letter) to be submitted no later than six weeks after the end of your project
• Photographs of any work carried out and/or activities completed
• A table of all costs, signed by a representative of the organisation or group
• Copies of invoices and receipts for all costs over £500.

If there have been delays and you think your project will take longer than planned, it is important that you let us know straight away. All projects must finish by 31 December 2025, and we are unable to fund multi-year projects. However, we may be able to approve an extension to the grant agreement in exceptional circumstances.

Once you've successfully completed a project, submitted the appropriate documents and been paid the final half of the grant, you’re welcome to apply for another.

We will contact you within the timeframes specified above. It may be that the application needs more work, or that there is information missing that you can resubmit, or it may be that you are not eligible for funding. We may also be oversubscribed for funding. We will provide feedback where possible and will ask for your feedback about the application process.

If you're unsuccessful, you're welcome to apply again as long as you are eligible to apply and if your application meets the criteria.

Where projects involve work to land or other capital works:

• You must secure landowner permission, planning permission and any statutory consents required before applying (and attach copies with your application)
• It's your responsibility, as the applicant, to speak to the relevant authorities to determine if permissions or consents are required
  This includes checking to see if there are protections in place. Is the site a Scheduled Monument or Site of Special Scientific Interest, for example? You can use Magic Map Application (defra.gov.uk) to inspect the area you’re aiming to work in
• You must provide evidence to show how the capital works/habitat/site will be maintained after the project has ended (see Section C of the application form).
• Activity on land that's already part of an Agri-Environment agreement is not eligible for a grant, to avoid double funding. This land already benefits from Defra funding and the Freshwater Community Grant Fund is funded by Defra’s Species Survival Fund.
• You must ensure the works are maintained for at least 10 years.
• You must secure landowner permission and any other permissions required to maintain the capital works for at least 10 years.

Successful applicants must supply the following for any land or capital works before we release the initial grant payment and give you permission to start:

• Evidence of land ownership, e.g. a land registry number, deeds or copy of your lease
• Evidence of landowner permission if you are not the landowner
• A site map and photographs showing the location of the proposed works
• Copies of any relevant statutory consents or other permissions.