LOTTERY GRANTS HELP COMMUNITIES GROW AND SOURCE LOCAL PRODUCE

Under the Big Lottery Fund's 'Changing Spaces' programme, which backs projects aimed at improving the quality of life for communities, two organisations have been given £50m each to act as award partners - and are now inviting grant applications.
The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts plans to transform the food sector by helping projects that encourage locally grown produce. It will offer a portion of the money through its Local Feed programme, which opened for applications in March. It will consider project such as allotments, box schemes and food growing initiatives ranging from £2,000 to £5,000 and remains open until 2014

Groundwork UK will fund groups, via Community spaces, who want to create or regenerate local spaces through parks, village greens, community spaces and wildlife areas. It will consider applications from £10,000 to £49,000. Stipulations are that applications must be from community groups for sites that are open to the public most of the time.

In Scotland a separate award of £500,000 has been given to the organisation Growing Communities to help expand community garden therapeutic garden and allotment networks.

For more information:
localfoodgrants.org
community-spaces.org.uk
spanpartnership.org.uk