Aims of the Large grant

Primary aim:
  • To encourage greater public use and appreciation of public open spaces
Secondary aims:
  • To enhance the land, for wildlife and biodiversity
  • To build the capacity of both groups and of individual volunteers

Requirements
  1. The space must be (or planned to be) accessible to all members of the public for at least 20 hours a week (so school grounds, allotments etc. would normally be excluded)
  2. The application must come from a constituted group
  3. The project must be wholly in Lancaster local authority district
  4. Any activities planned must be accessible to all, but may be targeted at specific groups
  5. Your grant will normally be claimed in arrears, against a report of actual spend. We may be able to make advance payment against an estimate or pro-forma.
  6. Successful applicants must submit photos and a short report of activities - these will be uploaded to the LGS website
  7. You will acknowledge LGS on any published materials you produce relating to your project, including your website
  8. As our funds are very limited, we expect you, if eligible, to have already applied to Lancashire Environment Fund (LEF), under their 'Green Grants' scheme, before you apply to us. If your application to LEF has been unsuccessful we will still consider your application to us. And if you have been awarded a grant from LEF, then you are welcome to apply to us to develop your project further.
Note: we will not fund projects that mainly benefit just the members of your group.

Other sources of funding in the district

potential_sources_of_funding_-_january_2013.pdf
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Applications are more likely to be successful if your intended project:
  1. Is likely to result in additional public use of the area, especially from people who don't visit the area much
  2. Has research to show that people will be interested in participating
  3. Has a good plan for publicity, to get lots of people involved
  4. Is partly financed by your group running a fund-raising activity
  5. Produces a permanent enhancement to the area
  6. Benefits both people and wildlife
  7. Includes edible plants

How it works
  1. There are three application deadlines a year: February 15thJune 15th and Oct 15th Decisions will normally be made within 4 weeks
  2. LGS trustees will be the grant panel unless there is a significant conflict of interest identified, in which case other people will be appointed
  3. The LGS grant may be used for match funding
  4. We expect successful applicants to spend their grant within 6 months of the grant offer, unless there is a good reason why this is not possible
  5. You can apply for between £200 and £1000, but applications for smaller amounts are more likely to be successful
  6. Only one grant is available per site per year
  7. We will acknowledge receipt of your application. We may ask you for more information after receiving your grant application but before making a decision
  8. We may award the grant subject to one or more conditions – these will be because we believe that your project is worthwhile but can deliver better value with some changes.
  9. If you find that you have an underspend, then we may allow you to enhance your project with spending up to your grant offer. However, we may decide to retain your underspend in order to help other groups, who need to spend more in order to deliver their project successfully.
Any questions? Contact us here