Climate Action Fund - Our Shared Future | The National Lottery Community Fund

North East Young Dads and Lads

The Climate Action Fund is our commitment to help communities tackle climate change. We're supporting communities to be environmentally sustainable.

With Climate Action Fund – Our Shared Future we want to involve more people in climate action. And we want to inspire bold and long-lasting change that will have an impact.

We have extended applications for this funding until 17 December 2025. There is high demand for this funding, so we will only progress the strongest applications to the next stage. We want to see more projects that:

are clear about the lasting impact they want to make
could be scaled up or replicated elsewhere
are delivered by diverse partnerships
will bring in new voices from different communities, especially those experiencing poverty, discrimination and disadvantage
look beyond climate or the environment to other interests as a way to engage people to take action
have strong communications and engagement plans to share the story of their work.

We’re also interested in more applications from projects working either at a regional, national, or UK-wide level and those delivering longer-term projects.

We are looking to support a mix of different communities, themes and approaches across the UK and will consider this as part of our assessment.

We’ll only fund projects developed in a formal partnership with other organisations. This funding is not for applications from single organisations.

We want to hear from more partnerships that are led by or include non-climate or environment focused organisations. They should be aiming to reach people who are new to climate action.

We’re looking for partnership projects that reach more people by either:

influencing communities at a regional, national or UK level. Like linking larger campaigns or projects that will inspire people to take action on climate issues. Or helping communities to influence the people that make policies that affect them.

linking climate action to the everyday lives and interests of local communities. Using people’s day-to-day activities to inspire them to do things differently and work towards lasting impact.

We're particularly interested in projects that involve people, places and communities experiencing poverty, discrimination and disadvantage. It’s important to have representation from the communities your partnership is supporting.

Area: UK-wide
Suitable for: Formal partnerships, working across sectors and including community representation. This could include but is not limited to organisations in the community and voluntary sector, the public sector, the environment sector, or with expertise such as story-telling, learning and impact.
Funding size: The minimum you can ask for is £500,000. We expect the majority of projects to be between £1 and £1.5 million over a minimum of 3 to 5 years. We’ll also consider larger or longer-term projects. If you want to apply for more funding over a longer period you should give us more details in your application form.
Application deadline: You will be able to apply until 17 December 2025.

Apply

How to apply

You can apply online  

We’ll ask you about your idea and how it fits with what we’re hoping to fund.

Apply online

If it’s difficult or impossible for you to apply online

You can contact us if you have communication support needs or find it hard to complete the form. We can provide other ways for you to tell us about your idea, such as:

an Easy Read version of the application form and guidance
a PDF version of the application form
a British Sign Language (BSL) version of the application form and guidance.

If you’re not sure if you should apply

Check your project fits with what we’re hoping to fund. If it does not you should check our other funding.

You can also:

phone us on 0345 4 10 20 30 – lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
contact us by email at general.enquiries@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

What happens after you apply

It normally takes at least 6 months from when you send us your first stage application to find out if you are getting funding.

Here is what happens after you send us your first stage application:

We’ll consider your application
We may contact you to talk about your project, or to get more information.
We’ll aim to tell you if you're through to the next stage within 12 weeks
There is high demand for this funding. We are looking to support a mix of different communities, themes and approaches across the UK and will consider this as part of our assessment. We’ll only invite you to the next stage if your application strongly fits with what we’re hoping to fund.

If you’re not successful, we’ll tell you why. But we will not be able to give you detailed feedback.

If you’re successful, we’ll ask you to send us a full proposal. We’ll also give you some advice on what to include in it.
You’ll send us your full proposal within 6 weeks
Find out what information we’ll ask for in our guidance for developing your full proposal.

One of our team will read your proposal. They’ll work with you to find out more about your project. We’ll usually have calls or emails with you and your partners. We may also ask if we can visit your project. If we think your project is not ready at this stage, we may decide not to progress it any further. If that happens we’ll let you know as soon as possible and give you feedback.
We’ll tell you our final decision around 4 months after we get your proposal
Our Climate Action Fund panel will decide whether to offer you funding.

If we do not offer you funding we’ll give you feedback to explain why. We’ll also try to offer you support. For example, giving you suggestions about how to improve any applications you write in the future. Or letting you know about other groups doing similar work.
If your application is successful
Here’s what happens when you’re awarded funding. We’ll also discuss how we can help you:
- celebrate and promote your funding
- share your learning and collaborate with others.

What we’ll ask for in your application

We’ll ask you about your project and how it fits with what we want to fund.

We want to know:

What’s your proposed project idea?

You should tell us:

about your project
how your project meets our priorities
an idea of how you will allocate the money to deliver your project
what you’re hoping to change – in the short and long term
how you know it’s needed
how the community has been involved in shaping your idea
why is this the right time for your project
about the things that will increase the chance of your project being successful for example, you have support from your Local Authority or there’s increasing support from your community.

You can write up to 1,000 words for this section, but do not worry if you use fewer.

How will you work with others to deliver your project?

You should tell us:

about your organisation
what experience or learning has led you to apply
about the communities, organisations or groups you’re currently working with (or those you hope to work with)
why your partnership is best placed to deliver this work
what will the partners do in your project?
how you will share learning among your partners and with other groups, projects and communities.

You can write up to 1,000 words for this section, but do not worry if you use fewer.

How does your project help communities to take climate action?

You can see what we mean by ‘climate action’.

You should tell us:

how your project will positively impact communities – in the short and long term
how your project inspires people to take climate action
how you will address barriers to participation for underrepresented people and communities – for example, those experiencing ethnic or racial inequity, discrimination or inequality, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, and people who are seeking asylum or who are refugees.

You can write up to 1,000 words for this section, but do not worry if you use fewer.

Our terms and conditions

Read our funding terms and conditions.

See how we use the personal data you give us

By reading our data protection statement.

We do checks on the information you give us

As an organisation that gives out public funds, we carry out some checks on the information you give to us. Learn more about our checks.

Who can apply

We actively encourage partnerships that are led by or include non-climate or environment-focused organisations to apply.

We want to reach people who are new to climate action by funding other types of organisations too. And by using people’s everyday activities as a starting point for climate action. This could include communities people are part of and clubs they attend. Or other interests like arts, sports and health.

We expect at least one of your partners to have experience of climate or environment work though, to help ensure the climate action you take is effective and makes an impact.

You can apply even if you have funding from the Climate Action Fund already or have applied in the past. If you already have funding we’ll consider how this fits in with any other projects you apply for. We are looking to support a mix of different communities, themes and approaches across the UK and will consider this as part of our assessment.

We’ll only fund organisations working in formal partnership. We are not accepting applications from single organisations.

All of the partners should be working together towards an agreed purpose.

This includes partnerships that:

are based around a local area or region
cover one of the countries that make up the UK
cover the whole UK
are based on a shared theme or identity rather than a place
are new or already work together.

To get funding, a partner organisation must be a:

constituted voluntary or community organisation
registered charity
charitable incorporated organisation (CIO or SCIO)
not-for-profit company limited by guarantee – you must be a registered charity or have a not-for-profit ‘asset lock’ clause in your articles of association
community interest company (CIC)
school, college, university (as long as your project benefits and involves the wider local communities)
statutory body (including local authorities, town, parish or community councils)
community benefit society
co-operative society – you must have a not-for-profit ‘asset lock’ clause in your society rules and also be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority.

We’re also interested in you working with other types of organisation in your partnership – like private companies. But they cannot get any of our funding.

We usually give our funding to the lead organisation in a partnership

They can then pay the other partners for the work they do.

You’ll need to create and sign an agreement with your partners

You do not need have this in place before you apply. But you’ll need it before you can start your project. You’ll have up to 6 months to start your project after we offer you funding.

Your partnership agreement should explain:

how you'll work together
everyone's roles and responsibilities
your commitment to working together.

You can use our partnerships agreement template (PDF, 229 KB). Or you can create your own partnership agreement.

Our template is helpful if you have one lead partner who gets all of the funding and passes some of it on to the other partners. The template is only for guidance, and we cannot give you legal advice. So make sure to get your own legal advice before signing any agreement if you’re not sure.

If your partnership will not have a lead organisation

We will pay out the funding separately to each organisation. To get funding, the partners must all be one of the types of organisations we’ve listed.

We'll still expect you to have a formal agreement with your partners, even if there is no lead partner.

You need at least two board or committee members who are not related

Related can mean:

related by marriage
in a civil partnership with each other
in a long-term relationship with each other
related through a long-term partner
living together at the same address
related by blood.

All companies who apply must have at least two directors who are not related in any of these ways. This also applies to companies that are also registered as charities.

Who you should involve in your partnership

Your partnership should involve the communities you’re working with

You should include them in the design and delivery of your project. And make sure they continue to have a say in how the project works. For example you could include smaller local community groups in your partnership. Or involve people with lived experience of the issue you’re working on.

Your partnership should work across different sectors

We want to fund a mix of projects, communities and approaches. We’re particularly interested in projects using unexpected themes or interests to engage communities and inspire them to take climate action. We’re looking for projects that are doing things differently, in a way that can reach new communities and inspire them to take action.

Your partnership should involve experts that can help with:

evaluation and learning
communications - such as campaigns, press and public relations, social media, and how to tell your story.

We would also expect most partnerships to involve experts in public engagement. These could be from your organisation, or by involving another organisation that has expertise. For example if you want to involve the public in making decisions. Or are trying out a new way to reach out to people about taking climate action.

Your partnership should include at least one organisation with experience of climate or environment work

Especially if this is not the focus of your organisation.

Who cannot apply

We cannot accept applications from:

single organisations that are not working in a formal partnership with others
individuals
sole traders
organisations that look to make profits and share these profits out privately – including companies limited by shares, organisations without the right asset locks, or organisations that can pay profits to directors or shareholders.
organisations based outside the UK
anyone applying on behalf of another organisation (but it’s ok to apply for funding for another organisation if they’ll be in formal partnership with you)
organisations applying to more than one of our funds for the same project over the same period. This is because you cannot get duplicate funding for something we’re already funding you to do. It’s OK to apply to another programme if you’ve already had an unsuccessful decision though.

If you’re a school or an organisation working with a school

Your project should involve and benefit the community outside of the school

Not just teachers, pupils, and parents of pupils.

We do not usually fund activities in schools that:

improve school facilities or equipment
help with staff training
are part of the school curriculum
the school should already be doing (like teaching reading during school hours)
take place during teaching times (lunch breaks, or before and after school might be OK).

If you’re not sure if you can apply

If you are not planning to work in a partnership you should check our other funding.

You can also:

phone us on 0345 4 10 20 30 – lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
contact us by email at general.enquiries@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

What we’re hoping to fund

We’ll fund partnership projects that inspire more people to take climate action.

By climate action we mean how people can reduce the impact of human activities on the climate. Or even have a positive impact. And also how we can prepare for, and adapt to, the inevitable impacts of climate change.  

Projects should do this by either:

influencing communities at a regional, national or UK level. Like linking larger campaigns or projects that will inspire people to take action on climate issues. Or helping communities to influence the people that make policies that affect them.
linking climate action to the everyday lives and interests of local communities. Using people’s day-to-day activities to inspire them to do things differently and work towards lasting impact.

We want projects to show that climate action works best when communities have their say. And to help communities share their message. This could be with other community groups or at a higher level with local authorities or policy makers.

For example, your project might:

involve people who have not had a say. For example because they are new to climate action. Or because they come from communities that experience poverty, disadvantage and discrimination.
work with a group who came together around another interest or activity. And help them use their existing interest or activity as a way to take climate action.
try out ways to engage different groups of people in climate action to see which works best
spread an exciting local approach to climate action by sharing it nationally
bring communities together to take collective action or influence wider change.

You can read our blog for examples of projects we're likely to fund.

All projects also need to show how they’ll:

get more people to take climate action
involve communities, including:
- responding to their priorities
- treating people fairly
- making sure people experiencing poverty, disadvantage and discrimination are supported to have their say.
help communities take advantage of opportunities and reduce barriers they face when taking climate action
build on approaches that have worked elsewhere, based on evidence from other projects or initiatives
bring together organisations from across sectors. This should include representation from the communities your project is aiming to support, as well as engagement, story-telling, learning and impact, and partners with climate expertise.
make a long-term change that keeps going after the project ends
measure and show their impact, and have expert partners to help do this
share what they’ve learned, to help others.

The projects we’re unlikely to fund

We’re unlikely to fund projects that:

are run and delivered by a single organisation
will engage people but not help them take action
do not have representation from the communities they are working with. We want to fund projects where activities are being done with community members, not to them
cannot show how their project matters to the community
include political activities that promote a particular political party, political belief or any targeted action to influence elections
promote the agenda of a single organisation or group
include activities that should be funded by local or national government
are for building or refurbishment work
cannot show how their project could be scaled up or replicated elsewhere.

If you’re not sure if you should apply

If your project does not fit with what we’re hoping to fund you should check our other funding.

You can also:

phone us on 0345 4 10 20 30 – lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
contact us by email at general.enquiries@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

What you can spend the money on

How much funding you can ask for

The minimum you can ask for is £500,000. We expect the majority of projects to be between £1 and £1.5 million over a minimum of 3 to 5 years. We’ll also consider larger or longer-term projects. If you want to apply for more funding over a longer period of time, you should give us more details on your application form. We’ll contact you if we need more information when we review your application.

You can spend your funding on:

staff costs
volunteer expenses
general project costs
engagement activities
learning and evaluation, including sharing these with others
communications and campaigns
utilities or running costs
organisational development and management costs
costs to help you engage with and support communities, or smaller partner organisations
equipment
delivering your project in other languages, such as Welsh.

We can fund some political activity and campaigning

But only if:

the activity is not party political. This means that it must be about policy, practice, or legislation rather than opposing or supporting a political party.
the activity is meant to help the cause of your organisation and benefit the public or society.

We will not fund projects where political activities are the main purpose. But we can fund projects that are mainly about campaigning.

What you cannot spend the money on

We cannot fund:

activities that make profits for private gain
religious activities (we can fund religious organisations if their project benefits the wider community and does not include religious content)
activities that replace government funding (for example, we can only fund school activities that happen outside of normal teaching hours)
activities that benefit individuals, rather than the wider community
projects where political activities are the main purpose, or that support or oppose a specific political party
lobbying activities
things you’ve spent money on in the past and are looking to claim for now (retrospective costs)
loan repayments
the topping up of organisation reserves
overseas travel or projects that take place outside of the UK
electricity generation, such as from solar panels.

We’re unlikely to fund building or refurbishment costs

These are sometimes known as capital costs. But we can fund some equipment costs if you need them.

We’re unlikely to fund projects that will use the money to give out grants

We call this onward granting. Onward granting means using our funding to then give out grants to other organisations.

If you are thinking of doing this, you should contact us to discuss it first.

Considering your environmental impact

We're committed to helping you protect the environment. You can check our guidance on:

Our Climate Action Hub also has information about our approach to tackling the climate emergency, including learning and insights, stories and funding.

Delivering your project in Wales 

If you’ll be working in Wales you must deliver your project bilingually in Welsh and English. You can read our guidance on managing your project bilingually.  

If your project works with children, young people or vulnerable adults

You and all of your partners need to have policies in place that explain how they'll be kept safe. We might ask to see these policies if we decide to give you funding.

Find out more about what you and your partners need to do in our safeguarding expectations for organisations we fund.

UK’s subsidy control commitments

Our grants come from public funds. If we fund you, you’ll have to comply with the UK's International Subsidy Control Commitments listed on the GOV.UK website. You should seek independent legal advice if you need more guidance.