Sustainable City Grants are available every year to support voluntary and community groups to deliver activities in Cambridge that will help achieve the objectives of our Climate Change Strategy 2021-26 [PDF, 4MB].
Voluntary and community organisations can apply for up to £10,000. You can apply for funding for multiple projects, but the total must not exceed £10,000.
Eligibility criteria
The grant supports voluntary and community groups to deliver activity in the city which will help deliver the Council’s Climate Change Strategy’s objectives.
The grant cannot fund capital costs (e.g. fixed, one-time expenses for assets such as buildings and their fixtures, vehicles, equipment etc.) or research and feasibility studies.
Your organisation must:
- Be a voluntary or community organisation
- Have a bank account
- Have a governing document, such as a constitution
Your project must:
- Be located in the city of Cambridge
- Be completed by 31 March 2024
- Benefit residents or SMEs in Cambridge
Your application must:
- Address one of the funding priorities:
- Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions from homes and businesses in Cambridge
- Reducing consumption of resources, waste and increasing recycling by residents and businesses in Cambridge
- Reducing emissions from transport in Cambridge by promoting sustainable transport and encouraging behaviour change
- Increasing the provision of sustainable food in Cambridge
- Supporting residents and businesses of Cambridge to adapt to the impacts of climate change
- Achieve one or more of the following outcomes:
- Reduction of carbon emissions from homes and businesses, including through the promotion and implementation of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources
- Increased reuse and recycling and reduction of general waste produced by residents or businesses
- Increased use of sustainable transport modes such as walking, cycling, public transport or car sharing
- Increased access to sustainably produced food for residents, visitors and those who work in Cambridge
- Residents, particularly the vulnerable, supported to prepare and respond to the impacts of climate change, such as heatwaves, flooding or water shortages
- Demonstrate how the project will enable the following to take part, or benefit, in the activities and support to be provided:
- City residents with the most need, including those on low incomes, or
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 250 employees and less than €43m turnover or €37m balance sheet total
Apply for a Sustainable City Grant
If you think your organisation meets the eligibility criteria and your project clearly meets the funding priorities and outcomes, contact grants@cambridge.gov.uk to request an application form.
Make it clear which organisation you represent, and that you require a Sustainable City Grant application form.
The deadline for applications for projects to be delivered in 2023/24 is 3 October 2022.
Previous projects
Projects that were funded in previous years include:
- Cambridge Carbon Footprint’s Open Eco Homes, which provides opportunities to attend energy efficiency workshops and visit low carbon homes in Cambridge.
- A series of composting workshops for residents delivered across the city by Garden Organic.
- Cambridge’s first Sustainable Fashion Festival run by Cambridge Carbon Footprint as part of their Circular Cambridge project.
- A World War 2 Rationing Challenge campaign run by Cambridge Sustainable Food, which focussed on eating a healthy, low-cost diet with reduced animal protein, reduced sugar, local, seasonal vegetables and fruit, with minimal food waste.
- A ‘vegbox’ workshop run by Make Do and Mend, which involved the upcycling of old pallets into new raised beds for growing vegetables and the development of the skills to maintain them. The completed boxes were provided to people most in need to allow them to home grow fresh, healthy fruit and vegetables.
Other funding
If your project does not fit the criteria for a Sustainable City Grant, consider applying for one of the other grants we offer.
