Net Zero Villages Grant Funding

Grant Funding Scheme Now Open

Launched on 30 October 2024, we are invited local community groups and Parish Councils to apply for grant funding to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their operations or in their local community.

This is a 100% grant fund (no match funding required) for measures such as insulation and solar panels, low carbon transport or perhaps even installing a 'green roof'.

Only local community groups can apply, and funding must be used on buildings or land open to the public. We anticipate most of the funding will be used to improve the energy efficiency of a local village hall or other buildings that local community groups use.

Full details, terms and conditions and key dates are set out below.

Potential applicants

Applicants must be one of the following:

  • A Parish Council in East Cambridgeshire.

  • A voluntary, community or social enterprise sector organisation, with the applicable asset to be improved being located in East Cambridgeshire.

  • Other public sector bodies applying on behalf of an East Cambridgeshire community.

Funded Projects

The project must deliver at least one of the following:

  • Tackle energy use and/or support energy efficiency or energy generation retrofit to a community building; or

  • Enabling access to public transport or access to local services through low carbon transport; or

  • Nature based solutions to tackle overheating of community buildings.

Funding Available

A total of £150,000 is available for distribution as grants from January 2025. It is capital funding, which means that an asset must be created as a consequence of the project. It can not be used for general day to day running costs or maintenance. The project to be funded must complete all works by February 2026. 

The minimum single grant award is £5,000, and the maximum is £30,000. 

Further Details

For further details on the grant scheme, including examples of projects that could be funded and what would be excluded, then please see the Grant Information Guidance (PDF, 0.2MB) note.

How to Apply

Please first read the Grant Information Guidance (PDF, 0.2MB) note. If you think your proposal might qualify for a grant, then please complete a short Expression of Interest form (PDF, 0.2MB) as soon as possible. We will then assess your project, including a site visit, to see if your project will likely succeed. If we think it might, we will then ask you to complete a full application form, which will enable you to set out in more detail what you are proposing to do and how much grant you need. The full application form will only be sent to those organisations that complete the Expression of Interest form and receive notification from us that you should proceed to a full application.

When to Apply

You should submit your Expression of Interest form as soon as possible. We will assess them on a first come first served basis, and send a full application form to you as soon as possible after we have approved your expression of interest.

You will then have until 31 December 2024 to submit your full application. All applications received by 31 December 2024 will then be assessed in early January 2025, and funding awarded to successful projects. If any funding remains after this process, we will consider all applications received by 31 January 2025 in early February. There is no guarantee funds will remain available in January, so please try to submit your expression of interest form as soon as possible, and your full application by 31 December 2024. This will guarantee that your proposal will be considered in the first funding round.

Documents available