What is it?

The Crane Valley Grant Programme is part of Thames Water’s Smarter Water Catchments initiative.  The programme recognises that grassroots, community, environmental and conservation groups, often focusing on a particular area, are uniquely placed to carry out works and projects which will bring a wide range of benefits, including those contained within the River Crane Smarter Water Catchment Plan and its Update.

It aims to ensure that the benefits of the programme are enjoyed by all communities in the Crane Valley area, and that, alongside physical works, elements such as education, awareness raising, research and development, organisational costs and feasibility are also supported. For more information on the River Crane Smarter Water Catchment please see the Thames Water and Crane Valley Partnership websites.

What kind of Funding are you looking for?

There are two different funding streams on The Crane Valley Grant Programme:

The Community Fund:

Small, community-based grants of up to £2,000 for small catchment-based initiatives.

The Project fund:

Larger, project grants of between £2,000 and £100,000 for higher impact projects that deliver against the 12 Smarter Water Catchment Initiatives.

Community Fund

The Community Fund is offering small grants of up to £2,000 to cover organisational costs such as field equipment, PPE, operational services and training, promotional materials, site infrastructure and events. It aims to deliver a range of environmental and associated community benefits throughout the Crane Valley and has been devised in response to local community groups requesting a source of small-scale funding to support their activities. It provides support to the existing work of groups as well as smaller projects. A (non-exhaustive) list of items groups may apply for is listed in Appendix 1.

The following groups are eligible:

  • Educational Establishment
  • Religious Organisation
  • Local Authority
  • Registered Charity
  • Informal or un-constituted group*
  • Company Limited by Guarantee
  • Not for Profit Community Interest Company (CIC)
  • Social Enterprise
  • Constituted Community Organisation
  • Friends of Group
  • Tenants and Residents Association

We may also be able to fund other organisations where the key objectives are related to the public interest.

*Please note that all organisations must have an organisational bank account in order to receive grant funding. If you do not have an organisational bank account, you will need to partner with a local organisation that does. If you would like advice or support to do this, please get in touch.  

Applications can be submitted up to 4th March 2024, with awards being made at four intervals during the application window. The dates of these and the timelines for decisions etc. are set out below in the How to Apply section.

Please Note:

  • For the Community Fund we expect that all monies will be spent within six months of the award. If this is not the case for your proposal please explain why in your application.
  • Whilst there is no mid-point monitoring on the Community Fund, we will hold brief calls after three months of the award to check progress and see if we can support you in any way.
  • You will be required to provide evidence of expenditure with your final monitoring. Where this is not received in part or in full we may seek to reclaim any awarded monies.

Please note that, due to a predicted high level of demand and a desire to work with as many local organisations as possible, each organisation may only be granted one successful Community Fund bid across all four rounds per funding year.

Timeline:
MilestoneDate
Applications Open03 May 2023
Applicant Workshop10 August 2023, 2-3:30 pm
First deadline for assessment23 May 2023, 12 pm
Second deadline for assessment21 August 2023, 12 pm
Third deadline for assessment20 November 2023, 12 pm
Final deadline (application window closes)04 March 2024, 12 pm
How to apply to the Community Fund?

Firstly, review all programme documentation found on this page first. To access the Community Fund application form, please follow the ‘Apply for the Community Fund’ link below to complete the eligibility checker. If you are eligible, you will be presented with the link to the application.

  • Please note that you can only complete the checker once, so if you have lost the link please let us know and we can help you with this
  • Please either register on our application portal if you have not applied for a grant with us before or please use your existing login details if you have
  • Complete the application on the portal. Please ensure you regularly save your application. You will receive a confirmation when you have successfully submitted your application

APPLY FOR THE COMMUNITY FUND

Project Fund

The Crane Valley Project Fund is offering grants of between £2,000 and £100,000. Funding is available to projects that will help to deliver actions that are set out within the River Crane Smarter Water Catchment Plan and Update, including the 12 Smarter Water Catchment benefits set out on page 29 of the Plan (please note these are two documents). The Smarter Water Catchments benefits are:

  • Developing partnership resilience and capacity
  • Reducing pollution/improving water quality
  • Creating/enhancing habitat
  • Improving water flow
  • Reducing flood risk
  • Protecting heritage
  • Improving public access and/or site connectivity
  • Promoting health and well-being
  • Reducing carbon footprint
  • Delivering economic benefits
  • Raising awareness and support
  • Promoting community engagement

The activities and projects that could be supported through this fund are wide-ranging. There are no limits on categories of cost (capital, resource etc.), but all projects should meet at least three of the benefits outlined above. We are looking for projects that fit into one of the following categories.

This year, there will be two rounds of the Project Fund. Both have the same £250,000 pot available and will use the same criteria to award funding.

How to apply to the Project Fund?

Firstly, review all programme documentation found on this page first. To access the Project Fund application form, please follow the ‘Apply for the Project Fund’ link below to complete the eligibility checker. If you are eligible, you will be presented with the link to the application.

Timeline:

1st Window 

Application and Assessment Period  Complete 
Deadline for Reporting 30 September 2024 

2nd Window 

Application Open for Project Fund Window 2 19 September 2023 
Project Fund Application Workshop 09 October 2023 
Application Close for Project Fund Window 2 13 November 2023 
Decisions to Applicants W/C 04 December 2023 
Deadline for Reporting 30 September 2024 
  • Please note that you can only complete the checker once, so if you have lost the link please let us know and we can help you with this
  • Please either register on our application portal if you have not applied for a grant with us before or please use your existing login details if you have
  • Complete the application on the portal. Please ensure you regularly save your application. You will receive a confirmation when you have successfully submitted your application

The applications for the Project Fund are now closed.

Project Fund Application Workshop

To find out more, please watch our free application workshop. This is a great resource to learn more about the fund, how to design a project, how to write a good application, and how to submit your application.

Resources

Please use the documents below to support you in your application.

Guidance and Application Form – Community Fund

Guidance and Application Form– Project Fund

Questions?

Groundwork London is administering the Crane Valley Grants Programme on behalf of Thames Water and the Crane Valley Partnership. If you have any questions please email cranevalleygrants@groundwork.org.uk or call the Groundwork London office at 020 7239 1286.

Alternatively, you can call Lewis Fieldson directly at 07889756247 or John Webber at 07716992136.

Also, please read all of the guidance documents, as there are a number of ways in which we can support your application!

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