Community Environment Fund

Buglife, The Midlands Crayfish Partnership (Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell Wolverhampton)- £59,430 to map existing native and non-native crayfish populations, coordinate conservation efforts, and work with the Sealife Centre in Birmingham on a breeding programme to boost declining numbers of native species. The project will also include hosting walks, talks, workshops and other family activities to raise awareness of how crayfish help to maintain healthy watercourses and as a food source for fish, birds and mammals.

Severn Rivers Trust, Coventry Rivers Citizen Science (Coventry)- £36,500 to train 30 volunteers and engage 1000 people through events in a citizen science project focusing on river health along the River Sowe in Coventry. The Coventry Rivers Citizen Science project looks to build a picture of the health of the river Sowe to inform local and regional decisions on land and water management.

All Saints’ Action Network, All Saints Repair Cafe (Wolverhampton)- £25,000 to open a Repair Café at its community hub and wood recycling centre. 

Carriers of Hope, What Comes Around, Goes Around (Coventry)- £25,000 to continue its What Comes Around, Goes Around project by providing hundreds more people experiencing poverty, primarily asylum seekers, refugees and Roma people from Eastern Europe, with essential items such as baby equipment, furniture, electrical items, bikes and toys, reusing unwanted items that would otherwise be destined for landfill. 

Make Good Arts, Repair and Share Sandwell (Sandwell)- £13,320 to grow its Repair and Share project by providing sewing machines and other resources in even more community venues to help local people to repair, share and remake clothing, saving them money and diverting hundreds of items of clothing away from landfill.

ReBuild Site CIC, The Reuse Hub (Wolverhampton)- £100,000 to set up the region’s first reuse hub to take surplus materials from construction sites, builders' merchants, wholesalers and others in the supply chain to sell them on to local small traders, DIYers, gardeners and crafters at a substantially discounted cost, diverting it away from landfill.

The Active Wellbeing Society, Repair & Skill Share at the Share Shacks (Birmingham)- £99,544 to expand its Share Shack project with repair and skill workshops at its sites across the city, helping local people to fix their own broken items such as electrical equipment and clothing – saving them from landfill.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Revealing the Value of Trees in Our Community at Birmingham Botanical Gardens – exploring local adaptation to climate change (Birmingham)- £24,990 for a pilot research project to address the need to understand the impact of climate change on the tree canopy in Birmingham. Conducted in partnership with local community outreach groups, and the University of Birmingham, the project looks to help people, the natural environment, and infrastructure to be more resilient and less vulnerable to the impact of heat, drought, and flood events.

BME United, Together We Can Make Difference (Wolverhampton)- £24,760 to deliver training to approximately 240 members of BME communities in Wolverhampton to enable them to be more resilient and prepared for the impacts of climate change.

Holyhead Road Allotments, Future Proofing Community Food Growing (Coventry)- £18,707 to transform an area of the site that has become water-logged due to climate change, using more sustainable practices such as habitat creation, water conservation, raised beds alongside climate adaptation workshops for allotments holders and local gardeners.

Aspire4u CIC, Dudley Support Circles (Dudley)- £8,033 to reclaim an abandoned garden near to the centre of Dudley by establishing a gardening group. Horticultural skills will be developed, as well as improving the mental well-being of volunteers and visitors, enhancing environmental awareness, and improving access to green space in Dudley.

Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust, Dudley's Paths to Nature's Recovery (Dudley, Sandwell)- £99,605 for Dudley’s Path to Nature Recovery project to help connect more people in Dudley and Sandwell to nature by creating new walking routes and improving wildlife habitats through the Black Country Geo Park. 

Birmingham Settlement, Green Minds (Birmingham)- £19,526 to develop a 3-acre site at Edgbaston Reservoir into a natural, safe, and welcoming community green therapeutic space in collaboration with Living Well Consortium (LWC) NHS Talking Therapies.

Canal and River Trust, Wild Waterways (Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall)- £100,000 to expand its Wild in Birmingham project to improve the natural environment with communities around sections of waterway in Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton. 

EKHO CIC, Creating Greener Communities (Dudley)- £25,000 has been awarded to install a composting toilet allowing greater accessibility; construction of a cob oven using clay on site for plot to plate education sessions; and a community sharing facility offering access to gardening, crafting and sustainability resources such as literature, pots and seed swaps. This builds upon the success of the WMCA Community Green Grants funded wheelchair accessible wellbeing garden previously created by EKHO CIC within Hawbush Gardens.

Growth Path Services (formerly Kingstanding Regeneration Trust), Biodiverse Brookvale (Birmingham)- £13,148 to increase biodiversity and community use of Brookvale Park, Erdington, through a programme of planting and events while offering training and qualifications to NEET young people. 

Norton Hall Children and Family, Ward End Park Project (Birmingham)- £24,825 to create a new allotment on an unused balcony at the Dolphin Women’s Centre in Ward End Park and to make improvements in the Forest School area. 

People for People, Smethwick Community Garden (Sandwell)- £21,878 to clear waste and improve access to three plots within Londonderry allotments in Smethwick. A nature focused community garden space will be created offering regular activities to encourage participation from diverse communities.

Woodgate Valley Urban Farm, Community engagement space and an eco-toilet (Birmingham)- £15,100 to provide new facilities and opportunities for more local people to get involved in its practical nature-based activities. 

Birmingham TreePeople, Street Tree Project (Birmingham)- £12,765 grant to train new volunteers to survey 3,000 young street trees within the city. This will help to identify those trees in a poor condition so they can be quickly replaced, identify the possible causes of poor condition, and inform future planting choices.

Birmingham County Football Association, Save Today, Play Tomorrow- Carbon Literacy for Grassroots Football (Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall)- £25,000 to train up 10 football climate champions and put 500 football club volunteers through Carbon Literacy for Grassroots Football training to help them reduce waste and lower their energy usage and bills.

Caldmore Village Festival, Caldmore Environmental Education Centre (Walsall)- £24,995 to evolve Caldmore Community Garden into a nature, environment and climate change education centre, hosting gardening, conservation, climate change, and environmental sustainability workshops, events and other activities to help local people to reduce their own waste, carbon emissions and energy bills by becoming more energy efficient.

Castle Bromwich Hall and Gardens Trust, From the ground up (Solihull)- £21,292 to deliver a range of activities to include repair cafés, home food growing drop-in days, and foraging and cooking sessions to encourage behaviour change amongst visitors.

Rycroft NRC, The Greenway (Walsall)- £8,202 to deliver a climate festival, climate training, and guided walks and cycling along the Greenway route in Walsall.

Saathi House, Aston Environment Awareness (Birmingham)- £20,125 to train 90 local women as environment champions to promote sustainable living practices, such as waste reduction, efficient cooking, recycling, and energy conservation, within their families and communities. 

The LEAF Project (Linking Environment And Farming) Creating Conscious Consumers (Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Birmingham)- £25,000 to run farm visits and workshops for 1,200 more children at inner city schools and youth groups across Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Sandwell to improve their understanding of where food comes from and how it is produced, helping them to become conscious consumers in the future. 

Wildside Activity Centre, Natural Learners - Environmental Activity Programmes for Young Learners (Wolverhampton)- £24,400 to run more hands-on activities in its unique natural learning environment to teach school-age children about the natural world, the importance of conservation and environmental issues, and become ambassadors for positive environmental change.