Community Climate Grants

The Community Climate Grants provide funding for local projects which support local priorities and make neighbourhoods greener, healthier and cleaner.

The scheme has been funded by the Mayor of West Yorkshire and West Yorkshire Combined Authority. It is being administered locally by Leeds City Council and supports our climate action plan.

You can apply for funding online. Before applying please read the guidance.

About the Community Climate Grants

How much funding could I get

Eligible local community organisations can apply for between £5,000 and £50,000 to fund one (or more) eligible projects.

Up to £544,000 will be awarded by Leeds City Council as part of the Community Climate Grants initiative.

Smaller grants for community climate projects are available from the Climate Action Leeds community microgrants (up to £1,500) and small grants (up to £5,000) programme. More information about how to apply for these schemes can be found on the Leeds Community Foundation website.

Who can apply for this funding

Only incorporated voluntary, community, or social enterprise organisations are eligible to apply for Community Climate Grants.

Public sector, private sector, commercial, religious, and for-profit organisations are not eligible to apply for this scheme. However, these organisations may be able to receive support for similar projects from the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership's Sustainability Programme for SMEs or the UK Government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

Projects eligible to receive funding

To qualify for this funding, projects must either:

• benefit a Leeds community with high rates of deprivation
  

Or

• help reduce inequalities experienced by carers or by those identifying with one of the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010
  

All projects must also:

• demonstrably reduce carbon emissions in the Leeds district
  
• contribute towards one of the scheme priorities (see below)
  
• complete by 31 December 2024
  
• not meet any of the disqualifying criteria below
  

Scheme priorities

We are only looking to allocate funding to projects that contribute towards one or more of the following scheme priorities:

• protecting nature and biodiversity
• helping more people to walk, cycle or use public transport
• helping to make buildings more energy efficient, healthier and more affordable to use
• supporting local clean and flexible energy solutions
  

Disqualifying criteria

Before applying, you should check that the project you are looking to fund does not meet any of the following disqualifying criteria.

You will not be eligible to apply for Community Climate Grants if:

• your project has already been funded, unless your application is requesting funding for an enhancement or continuation beyond currently funded timescales
  
• you are looking to fund general organisational running costs or on-costs of any kind, including those arising from the project you are seeking funding for
  
• your project will directly support a business for commercial purpose
• your project is expected to increase carbon emissions
• you are looking to fund application writing or project development costs
• your project benefits only a single individual or single household
• you are looking to promote an explicitly political or religious cause
• you are looking to fund building works not owned or wholly maintained by an incorporated voluntary, community, or social enterprise organisations
• your project has previously received grant funding from a different West Yorkshire Combined Authority 'gainshare' scheme

How we will choose who to fund

We will assess all applications fairly and competitively based on the following evaluation criteria:

• alignment with the priorities of the fund
• potential long-term impact
• project management approach—including an explanation of how project delivery, risks, and finances will be managed
• how impact will be measured
• community engagement and promotion
  

How to apply

If you believe that your organisation and project could be eligible to receive funding, then you can express your interest in the fund or get in touch with us directly.

Before applying please read the guidance.

An overview of the application process is set out below:

1. You express your interest in Community Climate Grants by contacting us.
2. We will contact you with more details about the fund and explain how you can formally submit a bid on behalf of your organisation. We will also offer you advice and support with your application.
   
3. Submit your application online before the funding wave deadline below
   
4. We will first screen applications for their eligibility. We will then score and decide successful applications based on the evaluation criteria set out above.
5. You will be notified if your application has been successful. We aim to respond to all applicants within 6 weeks of the relevant funding deadline, but exact timescales may vary depending on the volume of applications we receive.
   

We are awarding the Community Climate Grants in waves to enable more community groups to develop their applications and apply.

Approximate funding deadlines for each of these waves is set out below: