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Natural England grant to benefit disadvantaged communities
Natural England has announced a £25m Access to Nature grant programme open to organisations and networks that want to encourage disadvantaged communities to experience the natural environment.
The programme, which is financed by the Big Lottery Fund, will offer grants of between £50,000 and £500,000 to fund regional and national projects across England that focus on bringing nature to young people, older people, minority groups and people with disabilities.
A maximum of five larger grants of over £500,000 will also be available for larger flagship projects that have a national significance and make a lasting impact on community awareness and volunteering.
Applications for regional or national funding will be accepted until June 2010, while applications for flagship projects must meet the deadline of either 11 July or 17 October 2008. Projects must be completed by September 2013.
“We want to see an increase in communities’ sense of ownership of natural places by establishing strong partnerships between communities and voluntary organisations, local authorities and other groups,” Natural England said in a statement on its website. “By 2014 we want 1.7 million people to have benefited from this grant programme through improved opportunities to experience the natural environment.”
Natural England has named five specific targets it hopes to reach through the programme, along with types of activities it would be willing to fund to meet each aim.
The body will fund activities including awareness-raising events, themed open days, trail guides and guided walks for new audiences, and natural play programmes to meet the target of improving one million people’s opportunities to actively experience and enjoy the natural environment.
Natural England also wants to see 125,000 people benefiting from increased learning opportunities by 2014, including 50,000 new volunteers who will be able to participate in training and development programmes. The target will be met by funding activities including specifies identification workshops, educational packs and site visits, learning skills programmes and volunteer training and recruitment programmes.
The aim of increasing investment in access links to 130 natural places will see funding for activities including the construction of more paths, trails and cycle routes, land purchase and green transport links, benefiting 350,000 people.
Programmes involving site and landscape management, habitat creation and restoration, and graffiti, litter and vandalism reduction will be funded to meet the target of 250,000 people benefiting from physical improvements to local natural places, with 5,000 people regularly participating in their care.
All applicants must meet Natural England’s fifth target, that all projects actively engage with local communities to increase their ownership of the natural environment. The organisation has published regional targeting plans identifying communities it feels are a priority.
Natural England has also announced an extra £5m to support wildlife recovery over the next three years through a new Countdown 2010 grant scheme.
The £5m package will fund projects that protect specific endangered species, and initiatives dedicated to reviving habitats and species across large areas. Voluntary conservation organisations are eligible to participate in the scheme.
“Countdown 2010 will make a real difference to the practical delivery of projects on the ground, help people to take part in enhancing their local environment and secure the benefits a healthy natural environment makes to all our lives,” said Natural England chief executive Helen Phillips.
The previous Countdown 2010 scheme funded 34 projects across England.
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