The Crane Valley Grant Programme
If you'd like to improve the water environment in the Crane Valley catchment, this grant supports grassroots and community groups to achieve this objective and benefit the local communities.
Applications for the Crane Valley Grant Programme is currently closed.
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:
Small, community-based grants of up to £2,000 for small catchment-based initiatives.
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.
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.
The applications for the Project Fund are now closed.
Resources
If you wish to learn more about the Crane Valley Grant Programme, you can view our past programme prospectus here:
Questions?
Groundwork London is administering the Crane Valley Grants Programme on behalf of Thames Water and the Crane Valley Partnership.
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Alternatively, you can directly email CraneValleyGrants@Groundwork.org.uk if you have any queries or concerns regarding applying for funding, ongoing applications or funded projects.
