NEECCo gathering – National Lottery Climate Action Fund opportunity – Nature & Climate

The National Lottery Community Fund Climate Action Fund have recently opened a new funding opportunity specifically to support projects that focus on the link between nature and climate.  

Climate Action Fund | The National Lottery Community Fund (tnlcommunityfund.org.uk)

They want to fund projects that use nature to encourage more community-led climate action. We expect these projects to bring other important social and economic benefits. Like the creation of strong, resilient and healthy communities or the development of ‘green’ skills and jobs.

They are interested in projects that can do at least one of the following:

• show how creating a deeper connection with nature will lead to changing people’s behaviours and greater care for the environment
• show how by bringing nature back into the places we live and work, we can help communities to reduce or adapt to the impacts of climate change.

They want all the projects they fund to be creative, include everyone and try out new things. Applications need to come from local partnerships and also need to show how they can achieve longer-term, larger change that goes beyond the communities they're directly working with.

At this event NEECCo want to bring together North East organisations interested in developing a project to respond to this funding opportunity.  We are keen to explore the appetite for a collaborative, partnership project across all or part of the North East region and/or avoid several organisations in the region developing competative applications if a single, partnership application would prove to be more successful.  In addition to full project funding (maximum £1.5M over 2-5 years with average award of £300,000-£500,000), the fund also offers development funding of £50,000-£150,000 which could be used to establish a North East partnership and develop a collaborative project.