Funding
Council works in partnership with the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
DAERA offers a wide range of grants and funding to support local farming, fisheries, rural business, communities and environmental NGOs.
Council work in partnership with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful who administer grant funding on behalf of DAERA.
Below are a number of funding opportunities on offer throughout the calendar year.
Tackling Textiles
Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful has a tackling textiles fund that provides successful projects with funding from £500 to £3000.
Applications are welcome from Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (under 250 employees), Social enterprises, Charities, Not for profit organisations, Community and voluntary groups.
Waste Prevention, Reimagine and Reuse and Repair Model Projects are all welcomed from this fund.
Marine Litter Capital Grant
The Marine Litter Capital Grant supports organisations and groups to purchase items to prevent litter and plastic pollution from entering the marine environment, enhance the environmental management of a local area to reduce marine litter, improve the health and wellbeing of communities and marine biodiversity recovery by helping to improve and/or maintain the quality of public open spaces, improve the quality of their local environment by changing behaviour through creative concepts to reduce the incidence of littering.
You are eligible if Your organisation is likely to be responsible for managing and/or owning free to access public open space, or if not, will have a clearly defined role in managing the local environmental quality of such space and this will be formally agreed with the land owners. Your project must be located on free to access public open space or, for creative concept ideas, must show how it is applicable to free to access public open space. You must clearly demonstrate how the project will decrease the amount of litter and plastic entering the marine environment. You must clearly demonstrate commitment and the ability to provide for the ongoing management of any physical assets (eg regular and timely emptying of bins) purchased as part of the project. Funding must only be used for the purchase and installation of eligible capital items, schools must demonstrate how they will use any assets purchased in an educational context.
Small Grants Scheme
The Small Grants Scheme provides support from £500 to £3000 to volunteer projects that Contribute to the development of civic pride within a community with a focus on environmental improvement.
- Encourage actions and projects that enable Pollution Solutions, Biodiversity Recovery and Climate Action.
- Enhance the environmental management of a local area.
- Improve the health and wellbeing of communities whilst helping to improve and/or maintain public spaces.
- Improve the quality of their local environment by reducing littering and dog fouling through community action.
- Support environmentally focused actions that help support people impacted through reduced contact with society.
School Pollinator Garden Grants
The School Pollinator Garden grants scheme will provide capital grants from £3,000 to £12,000 covering 100% of costs to schools, colleges and universities wishing to establish, enhance or develop a pollinator garden and increase pollinator-friendly land management techniques.
This grant aims to support schools/colleges/universities to:
- Increase the biodiversity value of an area by planting for pollinators.
- Transform unused spaces into valued environment, adding habitats and greening-up grey spaces.
- Create a positive legacy.
- Improve the health and wellbeing of pupils and students by helping to improve and/or maintain the quality of community spaces.
- Increase civic pride through a programme of community engagement.
- Improve the quality of their local environment by changing behaviour to reduce the incidence of littering and anti-social behaviour.
Rural Community Pollinator Grants
The Rural Community Pollinator Grants Scheme is a pilot Scheme which provide capital grants from £3,000 to £12,000.
This grant helps schools and community groups to:
- Increase the biodiversity value of an area by planting for pollinators.
- Transform unused spaces into valued community spaces, adding habitats and greening-up grey spaces.
- Create a positive legacy within a rural community.
- Improve the health and wellbeing of rural communities and aid biodiversity recovery by helping to improve and/or maintain the quality of community spaces.
- Increase civic pride through a programme of community engagement.
- Improve the quality of their local environment by changing behaviour to reduce the incidence of littering and dog fouling.
Platinum Jubilee Pollinator Garden Award
The Platinum Jubilee Pollinator Garden Award will provide one grant of £100,000 for the creation of an outdoor community space to benefit people and pollinators
The garden must have elements that provide food and shelter for pollinators, but the project does not have to be exclusively for this reason. The garden should be inclusive and accessible and it should provide a healthy pit stop for pollinators and humans alike.
Climate Challenge Fund
The overall aim of this project is to educate the wider community about climate change through free Carbon Literacy Programmes training, in order to empower and inspire civic action that can help Northern Ireland tackle the climate emergency.
This fund can provide a maximum of £5,000 to each applicant. You could be eligible if you can demonstrate that your project meets any of these criteria:
- Involves and benefits your local community.
- Increases your community’s understanding and awareness of climate change, and how everyone can help to make a difference.
- Results in a measurable reduction in CO2 emissions.
- Includes information about how carbon awareness will continue after the initial project is implemented.
The Big Spring Clean
The BIG Spring Clean is Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful's flagship volunteering opportunity delivered through Live Here Love Here. The programme supports local community clean-ups across Northern Ireland and is open to individuals, schools, community groups and businesses.
It takes place every year between 1 March and 31 May. You can get involved through adding your signature, donating, take part in a clean-up or even organise your own clean up and receive a free kit!
Adopt a Spot
Adopt a Spot is a project that allows individuals and community groups such as schools and sporting associations to adopt an area and look after it.
In exchange for our clean-ups a year, for a minimum of two years. In return, you can apply for one of the following free kits to help you look after your Spot:
A clean up kit which contains a maximum of 5 litter pickers, 5 hi vis vests, 5 pairs of gloves, bin bags, and a First Aid Kit.
Wildlife kit which contains bird, bat and bug boxes, native wildflower seed and a set of hand tools, gloves and an informative Field Studies guide to help participants identify the species in their space.
Food For Thought Kit (Available in the spring months) which contains pots, hand towels, peat-free compost, a variety of seeds, gloves and a watering can.