Natural England has hailed its £25m Access to Nature scheme a success after being inundated with funding applications from community groups.

“Within the first six months of this three-year grant scheme being launched, applications exceeded the total funding available. The incredibly high level of community interest shows there is a desire for people wanting to explore the countryside,” explained the initiative’s manager, Pete Johnstone.

Launched in autumn 2007 by television celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh, Access to Nature aims to enable those who have had little or no contact with their natural environment to access and explore local green spaces.

Community groups can apply for funding to set up projects that engage people in outdoor recreation, such as natural play and out-of-school learning to encourage youngsters to explore green spaces, outreach programmes, apprenticeship schemes in traditional countryside skills and the training of volunteer rangers. To date more than £1.7m has been allocated to five projects.

Campaign for National Parks has received the largest grant of almost £1m to fund its Mosaic: Building Ethnic Minority Capacity for Engagement with National Parks project. Community Champions for National Parks within black and ethnic minority groups will be trained in 20 cities to organise visits to and arrange cultural events in natural environments.

Engage, a project run by Community Service Volunteers, has received around £225,000 to establish ranger clubs in primary schools and work with community groups in Birmingham.

The Geltsdale Community Outreach Project, run by RSPB, Northern England, has been awarded almost £100,000 to engage young people in activity sessions at schools, complemented by visits to reserves in North Cumbria. It hopes to involve 3,000 people over three years.

The Woodland Trust, Warrington and Runcorn’s three-year Woodland Communities Project will use its £213,500 to instigate community events and set up woodland discovery sessions for local schools in the ten urban woodlands straddling the deprived boroughs.

The final grant of more than £327,000 has been awarded to Wild About Plants. The organisation, Plantlife, aims to provide information and resources, such as activity packs and an interactive website, to help the local community learn more about wild flowers in the area over the next five years.

Dr Helen Phillips, chief executive of Natural England, said: “Modern life can mean losing regular contact with nature, and we must find a way of putting people back in touch with the natural environment.

“If we can inspire people to value the world around them today, we have a better chance of passing on a connection with nature to future generations.”

Access to Nature is funded through the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme and aims to benefit 1.7 million people in England.