For grants to deliver activities that fall under four key themes:
- Keeping young people in the countryside: support for projects which increase access to skills training and employment opportunities in rural communities.
- Powering up rural communities: support for projects which aim to provide financial benefits to the locality, addressing local needs.
- Environmental sustainability: support for community-driven projects which aim to increase the environmental sustainability of their community through reducing emissions/environmental impact, creating positive benefits for the community and improving the quality of the local environment.
- Building emergency resilience in rural areas: support for communities to develop preventative measures and plans to respond to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events, helping them to be better prepared to cope with and recover from emergencies. Communities are invited to bid for money that will create tangible change.
The grants can be used for direct costs, organisational development, core or fixed costs.
Projects must start within six months of the agreement start date and all projects must be completed by June 2027.
Organisations in Cumbria and Northumberland may not apply to this round (2025) as the Trust’s recent joint programme focused on these countries.