Saving the green spaces that helped us through lockdown
Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England

In laying the foundations for a green recovery, we need to ensure that environmental organisations and the partnerships they work within across England are engaged and supported. So I am delighted to see the launch of the £40million Green Recovery Challenge Fund.

When the UK turned to nature
The importance of a healthy natural environment is now fully acknowledged for what it provides to our society. Recognising not only the value of nature for its own sake, but also the many vital benefits it provides for people, for our health and wellbeing, and in tackling climate change, reducing flood risk, improving water quality and contributing to food security.
We have all noted the impact that lockdown had on people who were unable to easily access quality green space, particularly in urban areas. This was shown in the rush to the countryside once lockdown started to ease. It has been wonderful to see the pleasure people find outside, in our incredible National Nature Reserves, urban green spaces, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks. This really reinforces the importance of continuing to protect these places, and to really get on with the task of making them better, including for wildlife.
"Almost half the population (46%) are spending more time outside than before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic."
Wildlife for wellbeing
Natural England now has excellent evidence from our People and Nature survey for England. Latest data from July shows that almost half the population (46%) are spending more time outside than before the pandemic, up from 26% in May.
In addition, 42% of adults reported that ‘nature and wildlife is more important than ever to my wellbeing’. Urban green spaces continue to be the most popular type of green space visited, with 50% of adults reporting a visit in July.
The challenge for the sector
The pandemic has had a huge impact on the organisations that work so hard to protect and enhance our natural environment. There have been financial impacts through things like reduced membership and visitor numbers.
There have also been direct impacts on our most important sites and species, as projects to protect and improve them were put on hold when staff were unable to get out and continue the vitally important work they do.
Charities have been able to take advantage of government support such as the furlough scheme, but inevitably there has been an impact on jobs. And not just in the charities themselves, but in support industries such as environmental contractors, catering and tourism.
"The task (of improving the environment) was already a huge challenge, and we cannot afford to allow a long-term reduction in the capacity of the sector if we hope to meet it."
The 25 Year Environment Plan
Our fantastic charity sector environmental organisations have a key role to play in working with government and the private sector to meet the ambitions of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP). The task was already a huge challenge, and we cannot afford to allow a long-term reduction in the capacity of the sector if we hope to meet it.
This Green Recovery Challenge Fund is fully in tune with current thinking. It takes a broad approach to restoring nature through funding projects that not only aid wildlife recovery, but which also increase carbon capture, reduce flood risk, improve water quality, boost tourism, and benefit public health and wellbeing.
By focusing on the three key themes of restoring nature, supporting nature based solutions and connecting people with nature, this fund will provide an excellent opportunity for environmental charities and partnerships to kick-start projects that help achieve the goals of the 25YEP. It will also help to sustain and build capacity in the sector for the future.

Rising to the challenge
To respond to the immediate challenges facing the environment sector, this fund has been established at pace and it requies applicants to respond quickly. We realise this will create a little pressure, but having worked with many such organisations for a long time, I know you are able to do this. (You are not called pressure groups for nothing.)
It is also an excellent move to deliver the fund through a partnership of Defra and its Arm’s-Length Bodies, including Natural England, Forestry Commission, Environment Agency and others. And distribution of the grants through The National Lottery Heritage Fund has put it in a very safe pair of hands. They have a tremendous track record in delivering grant schemes that have supported excellent nature protection and recovery initiatives and I’m sure will be making good choices as you submit applications.
I encourage all environmental charitable organisations to apply. Be part of setting the foundation for proper integrated nature recovery for the long term benefit of nature, people and places. I hope we get the very best spread of applications.
Your projects, and this fund, can be a genuine catalyst for green recovery by retaining jobs and skills, moving environmental initiatives forward, and providing high-quality access opportunities for people from all areas of society.
Applying to the Green Recovery Challenge Fund
The £40m fund is open to environmental charities and partnerships in England with projects that are ready to start and can be completed by March 2022.
Applications for grants from £50,000-£250,000 must be submitted by midday on 2 October 2020. For applications over £250,000 up to £5m, there is a two-step process, with initial expressions of interest required by midday on 24 September 2020.
Read the full criteria and application guidance and apply online.
Efallai y bydd gennych chi ddiddordeb hefyd mewn ...
Government’s £40million Green Recovery Challenge Fund opens for applications

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “I am delighted that we are distributing the Green Recovery Challenge Fund on behalf of Defra. We are committed to supporting the nature and environment sector quickly and effectively through this fund.”
Who is it for
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is open to environmental charities and partnerships that include at least one environmental charity, with projects in England that are ready to start.
All projects must contribute to at least one of the following themes:
- nature conservation and restoration
- nature based solutions, particularly focused on climate change mitigation and adaptation such as through tree planting and restoring peatland
- connecting people with nature
Projects will be favoured that create or retain jobs, providing opportunities and benefits for all ages, including young people. Projects from both rural, urban and inshore marine areas are welcomed.
How to apply
Applications for grants up to £250,000 must be submitted by midday on 2 October. For applications over £250,000, there is a two-step process, with initial expressions of interest required by midday on 24 September.
Up to 100% of project costs will be available.
Please read the full criteria and application guidance before submitting your application.
If, after reading the application guidance, you still have questions, please register to take part in our webinars for applicants on Wednesday 16 September (now sold out) or Friday 18 September. The one-hour webinars, which will run from 12.30pm-1.30pm, will include a brief overview of the fund, followed by a Q&A session.
A greener future
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund, part of a wider HM Government green economic recovery jobs and skills package, will enable environmental charities and their partners to restore nature and tackle climate change.
The fund will help create up to 3,000 jobs such as ecologists, surveyors, nature reserve staff and education workers. In additional, it will safeguard up to 2,000 existing jobs in areas such as protecting species, finding nature-based solutions to tackling climate change, conservation rangers and connecting people with nature. It will also support suppliers in areas such as agricultural engineering, horticulture, and equipment and seed supply.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is distributing the Green Recovery Challenge Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency, on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). It has been made possible by bringing forward funding announced at Budget 2020 including £10m from the Nature Recovery Fund and £30m of Nature for Climate Funding.
Efallai y bydd gennych chi ddiddordeb hefyd mewn ...
Green Recovery Challenge Fund round 1
Important
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is now closed to new applications.
Overview
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is a short-term competitive fund to kick-start environmental renewal whilst creating and retaining a range of jobs. It is open to environmental charities and their partners to deliver projects in England.
The aim of the fund is to support projects that are ready to deliver and focus on nature restoration, nature-based solutions and connecting people with nature, delivering against the goals of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP), whilst helping to sustain and build capacity in the sector.
The £40million fund has been developed by Defra and its Arm’s-Length Bodies, including Natural England, Forestry Commission, Environment Agency and others. The National Lottery Heritage Fund is distributing and monitoring this government money.
- Grants of £50,000 - £5million to deliver environmental projects in England
- Open to environmental charities and their partners
- Projects must be ready to deliver and funding must be spent by 31 March 2022
The Fund covers three themes:
- Nature conservation and restoration, including ecosystem restoration and species recovery;
- Nature-based solutions, particularly for climate change mitigation and adaptation; and
- Connecting people with nature.
All projects will need to deliver against at least one of these themes, but may contribute to more than one or all of the above. Further information can be found in the Additional Information section of this guidance.
Contents
Under this programme, we welcome applications from:
- environmental charities
- partnerships involving at least one environmental charity
Environmental charities
Your organisation will be a not-for-profit organisation such as a charitable incorporated organisation or company limited by guarantee, registered with the Charity Commission. The organisation’s principal aims (or charitable objectives) will be concerned with the protection or improvement of the natural environment.
We will ask to see your constitution or governing document as part of your application (see supporting documents - under How will we assess applications?)
Partnerships
In addition to at least one environmental charity, partnerships can include:
- Other not-for-profit organisations, including non-environmental charities
- AONBs, National Park Authorities, local authorities and universities, however these bodies can only use the grant funding to cover certain costs
- ‘For-profit organisations’ (for example utility companies) however these bodies cannot be the lead applicant or receive any of the grant funding.
Partnerships cannot include the following government bodies:
- Non-ministerial departments, executive agencies, executive or advisory non-departmental public bodies
If you are making a joint application, you will need to decide which organisation will be the lead applicant. The lead applicant will fill in the application form and, if you are successful, receive the grant and report on progress.
We will need to see a draft of your partnership agreement as part of your application (see supporting documents - under How will we assess applications?)
Eligible organisations can be involved in more than one application providing they can demonstrate that they have the capacity and capability to deliver within the time available.
Applicants can apply for projects which are ready to deliver and are able to spend the grant fully by end March 2022. You will need to demonstrate how your project delivers against at least one of the Fund’s themes and provide the details of any partners with whom you have chosen to work.
All project activity must take place in England.
Below are some examples of the type of work or projects that are relevant to the three themes of this fund. Note that this list is not exhaustive. Further guidance on setting out what your project will seek to deliver against the themes is provided in the Additional Information section.
Nature conservation and restoration
For example, projects may include action towards:
- Creation or restoration of priority habitat (as defined under Section 41 of the NERC Act)
- Improvement in the condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)
- Creation of blue and green spaces that connect wildlife-rich habitats by acting as wildlife corridors or 'stepping stones'
- Recovery of threatened, iconic or economically important species
- Reintroduction of native species or tackling invasive non-native species
- Restoring waterways / fish passage improvements
- Preventing, removing or cleaning up pollution, such as marine litter
- Environmental improvements in land management, e.g. for grazing
- Environmental surveying and monitoring work
Nature-based solutions, particularly for climate change mitigation and adaptation
For example, projects may include action contributing to:
- Tree planting and woodland creation
- Peatland, and other wetland, restoration
- Woodland restoration and management
- Wildfire prevention
- Hedgerow planting or improvements
- Natural flood management
- Creating, enhancing or connecting blue and green infrastructure
- Nature-based solutions to address water quality issues
- River or waterways bank protection and improvements
- Blue carbon habitat restoration projects, such as seagrass beds
We are particularly interested in projects that can demonstrate their contribution to the government’s net zero target.
Connecting people with nature
For example, projects may include actions contributing to:
- Improvements to visitor/education facilities
- Creation and improvement of nature-rich, active travel corridors, trails, boardwalks, signage, interpretation, increases in accessible paths in urban and rural locations
- Employment of wardens, rangers, educators etc.
- Bolstering health and wellbeing including blue/green social prescribing and ‘green gym’ activities
- Improving access to nature for under-represented groups, such as BAME communities, economically disadvantaged communities, children and young people, and older people
- Local food growing initiatives
- Volunteering, including the establishment of new local groups or greater public involvement within their organisation
- Community engagement and citizen science for environmental conservation and improvement
We will provide up to 100% of project costs. There is no partnership funding requirement for this Fund, although we encourage you to include partnership funding if it helps you to deliver better value for money against the Fund’s outcomes.
Examples of eligible costs include:
Capital:
- Building / planting materials
- Equipment purchase
- Contractors / consultants
- Interpretation materials
- Land/ lease purchase where essential for the success of your project
Core costs:
- Salaries etc of staff working directly on projects (including ensuring sustainability of project outcomes)
- Recruitment
- Skills and training
- Volunteer travel and subsistence
- Equipment hire
- Communications
- Monitoring and evaluation activities
- Full Cost Recovery – for charities only
Funding for AONBs, National Park Authorities, Local Authorities and universities can only be used to cover the following:
- Salaries & direct on-costs of staff delivering the project
- Costs of backfilling an existing post where a member of staff is transferred to deliver new work associated with the grant
- Direct costs of project delivery
Please note that this list is not exhaustive and gives you an idea of the types of costs we will cover. Your project costs must be compliant with State Aid rules. For further information about these rules, see Additional Information and further guidance.
As part of the assessment process we will consider how the proposed budget delivers on the project’s environmental objectives. For example, we will assess how equipment costs relate to stated objectives and will challenge anything that seems disproportionate. We will also consider the balance of budget across partners. We expect a substantial proportion of any grant awarded to benefit environmental charities directly.
Projects can deliver works or activities on private land providing that they are for public benefit rather than private gain.
The costs you apply for should cover the period from 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2022 only.
What costs can’t you apply for?
The following costs are ineligible:
- Anything that contravenes HMG’s advice on COVID-19
- Recoverable VAT
- Costs related to promoting the cause or beliefs of political or faith organisations
- Costs already covered through other funding, for example from COVID-19 related HMG funds, mainstream funds from HMG or other schemes such as the Heritage Emergency Fund
- Costs related to lobbying and/or activity to influence legislative or regulatory action
- Costs incurred prior to any grant award
- Full Cost Recovery for ‘other not-for-profit organisations’ (e.g. AONBs, National Parks Authorities, local authorities, universities)
For applications up to £250k:
- We are accepting applications from now until noon on 2 October. We aim to assess applications and make decisions within five weeks of this closing date.
For applications over £250k:
- We are accepting Expressions of Interest from now until noon on 24 September. We will aim to assess Expressions of Interest within seven working days of the deadline and will consequently invite the top scoring projects to apply. If we invite you to apply, you will then have three weeks to submit the full application.
This guidance covers everything you need to know to apply. We have designed the application process to be as straightforward as possible and we are requesting only the information we need. Please read this guidance and the supporting application form help notes before you start your application. We will not be able to offer specific one to one advice for this fund due to the short application window.
For applications up to £250k:
We will consider whether you meet the essential criteria for the programme (see under ‘Who can apply’ and ‘What can you apply for’, above). If you do not meet the essential criteria, we will not assess your application further.
We will then assess your application against the quality criteria below. We will also consider if your proposals are proportionate to the amount of funding for which you are applying.
For applications over £250k:
At Expression of Interest stage, we will consider whether you meet the essential criteria for the programme (see under ‘Who can apply’ and ‘What can you apply for’, above). If you do not meet the essential criteria, we will not assess your expression of interest further.
We will then assess your expression of interest against the primary quality criteria below. We will also check that your costs appear reasonable for what you are delivering.
If you are invited to submit a full application, we will check that you still meet the essential criteria for the programme. We will then assess your application against the full range of quality criteria below, based on the more detailed information provided. We will also consider if your proposals are proportionate to the amount of funding for which you are applying.
Quality Criteria
You will be primarily assessed on your ability to:
- Contribute to HMG environmental objectives as set out under the three fund themes Please see the Additional Information section.
- Create and/or retain jobs, especially for young people (16-24). This should include proposals for training, skills development and work experience and volunteering, and employment and/or opportunities for under-represented groups to access nature.
- Deliver value for money for the amount of grant requested.
- Deliver the project activities within the required timescale. Your project plan should set out activities that will clearly progress the land, feature or community towards the eventual outcome. Your project plan should also show how all permits, licences and consents needed to carry out the work will be in place within six months of any grant awarded. Priority will be given to projects that are already fully planned with permits, licences and consents in place.
- Demonstrate a track record of high-quality delivery on the part of the applicant(s), and the appropriate skill sets to deliver the project.
If your application addresses the criteria outlined above, we will then further prioritise applications according to the extent to which they:
- Demonstrate the long-term sustainability of the project outcomes beyond the funded period. We want to see how you will maintain and build on what your project has delivered, and how you propose to secure any follow-on funding required. We will expect you to work up your plans further during your project, and you should budget for this in your project costs.
- Demonstrate that the project proposal has been developed using existing evidence of best practice or ‘what works’ in contributing towards the three key themes of the Fund or demonstrate a degree of innovation and/or an opportunity for testing and learning from new approaches.
- Demonstrate links to local plans and strategies (for example Green Infrastructure Plans, National Park Authority management plans, AONB management plans or new initiatives like Local Nature Recovery Strategy pilots).
Evaluation
We will need to understand how you plan to demonstrate the impact of your project or how you have delivered against your objectives. You must build in evaluation from the beginning of your project. We expect to see a realistic budget included for evaluation in your project costs.
We will expect you to collect qualitative and quantitative information to evidence the proposed outputs of your project, against an identified baseline. These outputs will vary according to the nature of your work, but you can find further guidance in the Additional Information section.
At the end of your project we will expect delivery of an evaluation report, sent in before we pay the last 10% of your grant.
We will also expect you to participate in a wider evaluation of the Fund to be managed by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, which will require you to share data about the outputs of your project at interim stages. Further details on this will be supplied if you are successful in receiving a grant.
Supporting documents
You will need to submit the following supporting documents with your online application. We must receive them by the published application deadline.
Everything we need to assess your application is in the application form and supporting documents. Please do not submit any extra documents as we will not use them in our assessment.
All applications must include:
- Governing document (for example, constitution) (mandatory for all environmental charities)
- Detailed cost breakdown (mandatory for all applicants)
A spreadsheet detailing the cost breakdown provided in Section six: project costs in the online application form. For partnerships, please separate out costs per partner.
- Project plan (mandatory for all applicants)
All applicants must submit a project plan using the template provided.
- Table of consents (if applicable)
A list of all identified permissions, permits, licences and consents needed to undertake your project with narrative explaining whether these are already applied for or in place. For any not yet applied for, indicate the target date for submission and likely response times.
- Draft partnership agreement (if applicable)
This document should outline all partners’ roles and responsibilities.
- Calculation of full cost recovery (if applicable)
If you are including full cost recovery in your project budget, you must include a document that outlines how this calculation has been made.
- State Aid declaration (mandatory for all applicants)
A signed letter from your Chief Executive (or equivalent) to declare that State Aid has been considered and checked in relation to your application, flagging any potential issues.
For applications over £250,000, this letter should also include a commentary on how any issues flagged will be resolved in advance of any grant award.
For applications under £250,000, this letter should also declare whether or not your organisation has received de minimis State Aid in the previous three years, and – if it has – the total amount received in that period.
If your project includes buying land, you will need to submit additional supporting documents.
We will not begin assessing your application until you submit all of the relevant supporting documentation. If you do not provide your supporting documents by the application deadline your application will be withdrawn.
You should attach the relevant supporting documents to your online application form. We can accept most standard file formats. Please use the document names above so that we can easily identify each document.
Before you apply
Please note: The National Lottery Heritage Fund uses the same forms across a variety of programmes we administer. Some questions need to be answered differently for the Green Recovery Challenge Fund so please read the application help notes to understand what information is required where. You do not need to use the help icons embedded in the online form.
- We are not offering pre-application advice for this programme so make sure you read the guidance and check that you are eligible to apply.
- Read the application questions and guidance. Make sure you keep within the word limit for the application form.
- You will need to register on the online portal prior to submitting an application.
- Have your supporting documents ready to submit with the form.
Applications under £250k
If you do not already have a logon you will need to register.
Applications over £250k: Expressions of Interest
For applications for a grant above £250,000 a short Expression of Interest (EOI) form is mandatory. Guidance on the questions to be answered and a copy of the form is available.
An assessment panel involving all the Fund partners will use the information you provide to decide whether or not to invite you to submit a full grant application. If you are not invited to apply we will explain our reason.
We will aim to respond to all EOIs within ten working days of the deadline. You will then have three weeks to submit a full application.
If we award you a grant, we will send you a letter, which includes the amount you have been awarded and outlines the conditions of the grant.
You will need to complete and sign a permission to start form to confirm that you are accepting the grant and signing up to the terms in the letter. When you have completed this process, we will pay a proportion of your grant upfront.
For projects of £50,000-£250,000:
- We will give you 50% of the grant upfront.
- Once you have spent and evidenced the first half of your total eligible project costs, we will then give you the next 40%.
- The final 10% is paid when you have finished your project and sent us a final completion report and project evaluation, alongside evidence of the remaining grant spend.
For projects over £250,000:
- We will give you 25% or £250,000 of the grant upfront, whichever is the lower.
- Once you have spent this sum, we will pay quarterly in arrears, on submission of a progress report and payment request form including evidence of spend.
- The final 10% will be paid when you have finished your project and sent us a final completion report and project evaluation, alongside evidence of the remaining grant spend.
All grantees will be required to participate in monitoring and evaluation of the Fund.
- For grants of under £250k, we will expect you to report on the progress of your project at the mid-point, and on completion.
- For grants of over £250k, we will expect you to report on the progress of your project quarterly, including on completion with the evaluation report.
We will expect evidence of delivery and expenditure, such as before and after photographs, reports, invoices and receipts. More detailed information will be provided at point of grant award.
We will be evaluating the impact of the whole Fund and we will require you to take part in data collection to support this work. We will provide more information about this requirement in due course.
Guidance on Project Outcomes and Output measures
We recognise that it may not be possible to demonstrate delivery of longer-term environmental or social outcomes by the end of March 2022. However, we expect you to:
- set out in your application what you will deliver during the project that will contribute to your longer-term outcomes,
- have a plan to evaluate the project’s impact (see ‘Evaluation’, above).
- have a plan to sustain positive impacts of the projects post-delivery, on which you will work in more detail during your project
We expect you to describe in your application where you have drawn on existing evidence around what works in delivering against the key themes, or in developing indicators for your projects. For example, you may wish to use websites such as the Cambridge Conservation Database, Woodland Wildlife Toolkit or Natural England’s Climate Change Adaptation Manual in considering objectives and indicators for Nature Conservation and Restoration or Nature-Based Solutions, or the Nature Connectedness Research Group resources for Connecting People with Nature. Where projects are more innovative in their approach, we are interested to understand how the project could contribute to wider learning.
Below are some example project outcomes and output measures under each theme, that you may want to consider in completing the section on Project Outcomes. This may help you to define activities and deliverables within your plan and collect quantitative data to evaluate impact. Please note that these are intended as examples and you may wish to focus on different aspects against your chosen theme(s).
-
Nature conservation and restoration
Example Project Outcomes
Heritage will be in a better condition, as a result of (for example):
- New or restored wildlife-rich/priority habitats
- Existing wildlife habitats protected and enhanced
- Wildlife habitats expanded or more connected
- Actions to support species (particularly pollinators and other native species)
Example Outputs – what are your expected results by March 2022?
- Area of land/water prepared or planted to support new habitat or species
- Area of woodland brought into active management to improve condition
- Area of natural habitats now joined up to create wildlife corridors
- Area and number of wildlife ponds
- Measures implemented as part of river or waterways restoration plan and fish passageways
-
Nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation
Example Project Outcomes
Heritage will be in a better condition, as a result of (for example):
- Habitat restored or created for enhanced carbon sequestration and storage or improved resilience to climate risks
- Nature and land use change supporting better resource management, reduce carbon emissions or improve quality e.g. water, air
- Nature-based solutions to support climate change adaptation, including flood mitigation or coastal erosion management
- Increased investment in Natural Capital to deliver solutions
- Use of green infrastructure to support enhanced river or urban cooling
- Improvement in soil health
Example Outputs – what are your expected results by March 2022?
- Area of land undergoing or prepared (wetter, seeded, water clean) for peat restoration
- Area of land undergoing or set aside and secured for tree planting
- Number, area and/or density of trees planted
- Land management assessed for carbon budget and actions implemented to reduce emissions
- Measures implemented to improve soil health
- Volume of natural water storage secured or area of land managed for water quality
- Area of catchment roughened for water slowing
- Area of land and habitats identified, prepared or undergoing changes to increase resilience to climate change risks , following assessment of local vulnerabilities
-
Connecting people with nature
Example Project Outcomes
- Engaging or empowering community to support nature-based objectives
- Access to nature improved
- People connecting with nature to increase understanding and/or improve wellbeing
- Improving or increasing nature where people live
Example Outputs – what are your expected results by March 2022?
- Relative position along the community engagement standards scale (outreach/consult/involve/collaborate/shared leadership)
- Opportunities for volunteering for nature or citizen science, such as species monitoring
- Increase in numbers and diversity of people engaging with nature or visiting natural features
- Length of footpath or area of open access land now accessible
- Area of new nature identified/ prepared or introduced within 200m of residential area
- Number of features supporting wildlife in schools, parks and residential areas
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Jobs/ Local Economic Impact and Financial Sustainability
Example Project Outcomes
- People gain or retain employment in the environment sector
- Skills developed or retained within the organisation
- Additional income for local businesses
- Greater local involvement in your organisation
- Improved governance or partnership arrangements
- Increased financial resilience
Example outputs – what are you expecting to achieve by March 2022?
- Number of jobs created or retained
- Skills, expertise or qualifications gained
- Number of businesses supported
- Increase in visitor or volunteer numbers
- Development of relationships to secure income streams
- Improved evidence base to support ongoing activities
Citizen science, biological-recording and data
Any habitat and species data collected through your project must comply with the standards for data quality and accessibility as set out by the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) on the NBN Atlas. These observations must be made available to the public on an Open Licence at capture resolution, subject to sensitive species restrictions.
There are several ways of achieving this. NBN Atlas Data Partners may prefer to supply datasets directly to the NBN Atlas. Alternative options include through the online recording tool iRecord or they can be shared with your local or regional environmental record centre for onward transmission to the NBN Atlas. Please ensure if submission to the NBN Atlas is via a third party they are aware of the requirements to submit this data at capture resolution on an Open Licence. If you are unsure how best to proceed, please contact the NBN directly to discuss the most appropriate data supply route.
State Aid
It is an applicant’s responsibility to confirm that their application has been considered and checked in relation to State Aid rules.
State Aid is a European Commission term that describes forms of assistance (usually financial) from a public body given to undertakings on a discretionary basis with the potential to distort competition and affect trade between Member States of the European Union.
State Aid rules prevent undue competition arising when there is potential for organisations to gain an economic advantage by having all or some funding provided from state resources to the detriment of other organisations who can only use their own private funding. We are a public funder and our grants are subject to State Aid rules. If we awarded a grant that was subsequently found to be in breach of State Aid rules, we would be required to reclaim those funds from the grantee with compound interest, noting this must occur irrespective of the outcome, be that financial hardship or bankruptcy.
For projects where the primary objective is conservation and/ or restoration of landscapes, habitats and species for the benefit of biodiversity, it may be that they do not constitute State Aid because:
- they may not be considered to be economic activity; and/ or
- they may be considered non-selective in that the main beneficiary is the general public; and/ or
- they may not have a measurable effect on intra EU trade.
Further advice on State Aid rules is provided on the government’s website. Applicants should seek independent legal advice if they are unsure whether their project will be compliant with these rules before submitting their application. When making their declaration that their application has been considered and checked against these rules, they should flag any aspects of their application that may have State Aid implications. If steps are needed to address State Aid issues in an application, these may form a condition of any grant awarded.
Working on private land
Many priority habitats and species occur on land that is owned by private individuals or for-profit organisations. Projects can deliver works or activities on private land so long as any public benefit clearly outweighs any potential private gain, and provided State Aid rules are not breached. For example, we could fund the restoration of hedgerows or create farm ponds, provided that they do not add financial value to the land or convey any significant indirect financial benefit that could breach State Aid rules.
When working on private land we understand there may be limits to public access. We do however encourage public access whenever practical and also accept that physical access may not always be appropriate or desirable for habitat conservation reasons. If improved access is possible you may also wish to apply for funding for new infrastructure, for example paths or hides, that can help to accommodate increased public access.
Works can take place on land owned by a Government Department or Arm’s Length Body provided they do not financially benefit from any investment. If an environmental charity or partnership were to undertake work on such land, then it can only be for works that would not be covered by any statutory responsibility. For example, if a charity created a new fish pass on Environment Agency (EA) land that would be acceptable provided responsibility for ongoing maintenance was transferred back to the Environment Agency and it is work that EA would not normally undertake as part of their statutory duties. Due consideration would also need to be made to ensure compliance with State Aid rules.
Third party ownership requirements
Where the land subject to grant funding is owned by a third party or multiple third parties (including private owners), legal agreements should be put in place between each land owner and the grantee. We expect these agreements to be in place within four months of any grant award.
There is no prescribed form of agreement but we have specific requirements which should be included in any third party land owner agreements.
At a minimum, the land owner agreements should include:
- Details of the parties
- Confirmation as to how the land is held (freehold or leasehold);
- A description of the property (including plans);
- Covenants on the part of the land owner to maintain the land in accordance with the terms of the grant (as applicable) or to allow access for the grantee to undertake maintenance;
- A provision that any onward disposal should be subject to the third party agreement.
- A provision that the agreement will last from the start of the work on the third party land until 10 years following Project Completion. You will need to provide us with copies of the landowner agreements to ensure compliance with these requirements. The land owner agreements will need to be completed and in place before any grant monies are released for work on each plot of land owned by a third party.
Consideration of Permissions or Licenses
Applicants should consider if their project requires any permissions, permits, consents or licenses for the project to be delivered. These could include (but are not limited to):
- A protected species license issued by Natural England or the Marine Management Organisation
- A Marine Licence from the Marine Management Organisation
- Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) consent or assent from Natural England
- An Environmental Impact Assessment from the Forestry Commission
- A valid approved felling licence from the Forestry Commission
- Planning permission from a local planning authority
The cost of any permissions or licenses should be considered in the overall project costs and included in the bid if appropriate to ensure the project is deliverable. Early engagement with licensing bodies is advised.
Buying land
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund can fund projects that involve the purchase of land that is important for nature conservation and is at or below market value. The principal reasons for purchase must be a benefit for nature. If you already manage the land that you want to buy, you will need to show us what extra benefits the purchase will bring. You will need to show that all options for entering into an appropriate management agreement with the freehold owner have been explored before seeking a grant for purchase.
We can help you to buy land if you demonstrate in your application that:
- any risks to the land, habitat(s) and/or species will be reduced by your purchase;
- the price accurately reflects the condition and value;
- you can demonstrate the significance and value of the land in a regional or national sense.
We will not support purchases which we think are above market value. If we award you a grant, we may require a charge on the land or any buildings. We can fund all associated purchase costs such as agent’s fees, saleroom fees and taxes. Please ensure these are reflected in your cost table. If your project includes buying land then the terms of the grant will last in perpetuity. If you wish to dispose of what you have bought in future, you will need to seek the permission of both Defra and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. We may claim the grant back.
The information we need about the purchase
With your application you will need to provide:
- a location plan to scale, clearly identifying the extent of the land and any building(s) to be purchased and any relevant access to the land and building
- one independent valuation. This should include an explanation of how the assessment of the market value was reached. We welcome valuations by the District Valuer. We will normally be prepared to support a purchase at a figure up to 10% above the top of any range in an accepted valuation
- evidence that the current owners are the owners (have legal title) and have the right to both sell the land and/or building and transfer the title to the new owner
- evidence of any legal covenants, or rights (such as fishing, shooting, mineral, drainage), or long- or short-term tenancies, or rights of way or access, or any other interests which are attached to the land or building
Managing your data
For more information about how your data will be processed under this grant programme please see our privacy policy.
We understand that you may be disappointed with a decision. We can only review our decision again if you can make a formal complaint about how we have dealt with your Green Recovery Challenge Fund application.
We will only be able to consider and investigate the complaint if:
- We did not follow the published procedures for assessing your application.
- You can show that we have misunderstood a significant part of your application.
- You can show that we did not take notice of relevant information.
A complaint must be made in writing by emailing enquire@heritagefund.org.uk within 10 working days of receiving your application decision. We aim to acknowledge your complaint within three working days.
Your complaint will initially be reviewed by an Area/Country Director from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, who is independent of recommendation and decision panels for this fund. We aim to communicate a decision within 15 working days from when you submitted your complaint.
For assistance, contact our Customer Services Team on 020 7591 6044 or email enquire@heritagefund.org.uk.
Your questions answered
On 16 and 18 September 2020 we hosted two webinars for applicants to the Green Recovery Challenge Fund. Both of the sessions sold out very quickly, so we have published a digest of the questions and answers covered in those webinars.
The Heritage Fund is distributing the Green Recovery Challenge Fund in partnership with Natural England, the Environment Agency and Forestry Commission, on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).
Changes to this guidance
We will continue to review our processes to ensure we are able to provide support where it is needed. We reserve the right to make any changes needed to the guidance and programme. We will communicate any changes as quickly as possible via this webpage.
Our support for the heritage sector in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis

Last updated: 15 April 2020
The coronavirus (COVID-19) virus is a worrying time for all of us and having a significant impact on the people and organisations we work with. We want to reassure everyone we fund that we will be as flexible and supportive as we can be during this very challenging time.
If you are concerned about the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on your heritage project or organisation, please don’t hesitate to contact your Investment Manager/Senior Investment Manager in the first instance. Or, if you have a general enquiry, contact our Customer Service team.
Please check our website regularly to get the latest news and updates.
Our Heritage Emergency Fund
We have made £50million available for a Heritage Emergency Fund to support the UK heritage sector as an immediate response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
We will be investing the £50m where it is needed most, by providing short-term funding for organisations delivering heritage projects or running previously funded projects, and safeguarding heritage sites we have previously invested in to ensure they are not lost to the public.
The Heritage Emergency Fund is available as:
- A fund that organisations can access over the next few months as short-term funding to stabilise operations and manage unforeseen risks. Grants of between £3,000-£50,000 will be available.
- A select number of key strategic investments where heritage is identified as at greatest risk. This could include grant increases to funded projects that are currently underway.
In addition, we are also supporting the heritage sector by:
- Enabling organisations that have received grant funding and are currently delivering projects to delay or change the way the projects are delivered. This can include changes to approved purposes, flexibility on costs within a project, early drawdown of grant payment, a relaxation of some conditions of the grant, and flexible use of contingency funding.
- Providing bespoke advice and support via our local teams and in some cases, via our specialist network of mentors.
- Accelerating the provision of our £1.2m Digital Skills for Heritage initiative to help the sector through the crisis and beyond. This will include support for organisations to run activities and events, reach audiences, engage volunteers, share content and fundraise online.
- For the longer term, to help with recovery from the current crisis, we have invested £4m in two enterprise development programmes for heritage leaders across the UK, and business support programmes in all four countries. More information will be available in due course.
Decisions on awards under the Heritage Emergency Fund will be made as quickly as possible to support those in the sector with the greatest need.
Find out more in our Heritage Emergency Fund news story. Hear from our Executive Director of Business Delivery, Eilish McGuinness.
Heritage Emergency Fund guidance published
Our guidance sets out eligibility and prioritisation criteria for the Heritage Emergency Fund, as well as examples of what the funding can be used for. The key thing to know is that applicants must be:
- a not-for-profit organisation, and
- a current or previous recipient of a grant directly from us, and
- an owner, manager or representative of heritage, or be able to show you have delivered participatory heritage activity
Read the guidance in full. Hear more from our Executive Director of Business Delivery, Eilish McGuinness. Read our updated FAQs.
Before you apply, please do take time to really think about what support you need to get your organisation through the next few months. Applications will be accepted until 30 June 2020.
Heritage Emergency Fund applications are now open
Applying for a Heritage Emergency Fund grant is different from the usual way of applying for a grant.
The application form must be completed in one go, as it cannot be saved. It is important that you prepare your application material before you start.
Before you apply:
- Find your previous grant reference number.
- Locate your organisation’s current financial information.
- Read the Heritage Emergency Fund guidance.
- Prepare your answers to the application form questions. Important – please ensure that you are drafting your application within the stated word count of 1,500 words as this will help us assess your application in a timely way.
- Prepare any supporting documents.
- Save a copy of your prepared answers and supporting documents for your own records
- Complete and submit the application form.
After you apply:
- We will email you to let you know that your application has been submitted.
- As part of this email, we will send you instructions on how to upload your supporting documents.
- Submit any supporting documents by replying to the email. We recommend you do this as soon as you receive instructions, to help us process your application.
- We will check your application details are correct.
- We will consider your application and give you a decision within two to four weeks.
Halting new applications
In order to meet the immediate needs of the organisations we support, we’ve made some changes so we can focus our efforts on support for the heritage sector:
- We have halted all new Committee-level grants (£250,000-£5m) and single-stage delegated grants (£3,000-£250,000) until at least October 2020.
- Organisations that have been selected to apply for Heritage Horizon Awards (grants over £5m) will be given more time and deferred until the 2021/22 financial year. We will not be opening a further round of funding for Heritage Horizon Awards.
Please note: if we have already made a commitment of funding to you, we will continue to work with you and offer our support. This applies to more than 2,500 projects in development and delivery where our investment commitments total over £1billion. We recognise that you may need to change the scope and timetable of your project, and we will offer advice to help make those decisions. For those in development, we still expect to make decisions on delivery grants (although these remain competitive, as previously).
If you are already delivering a project we’re funding, we will be as flexible as we can be, relaxing reporting requirements where possible, bringing forward payments if necessary, and discussing with you changes of scope or cost due to coronavirus (COVID-19) impact.
Other support available
Please check those that might be relevant to you and your organisation. We will update this list with more information as it becomes available.
- Government guidance for employees, employers and businesses
-
guidance on the Job Retention Scheme for employers and employees
-
guidance on the eligibility of Public Bodies for the Job Retention Scheme
-
guidance on the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) / Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF) (England only)
- information on claiming a grant through the Government's Self-employment Income Support Scheme
- advice and support for businesses from the Scottish Government
- support for the cultural and creative sector from the Scottish Government
- a round-up of support for Welsh organisations from Business Wales
- support for business and employers in Northern Ireland from NIDirect
In addition, a number of bodies and organisations across the heritage and wider voluntary and community sector have put together sources of guidance and information:
- Historic England
- Arts Council England
- Heritage Alliance
- NCVO for charities, voluntary organisations and volunteers
- Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
- WCVA for the voluntary and third sectors in Wales
- Heritage Funding Directory
Your response to our survey
Thank you to the 1,200 people – 79% of whom are current or previous grantees – who responded to our urgent call for evidence from the heritage sector.
Your input was invaluable in helping us shape the details of our Heritage Emergency Fund.
Some of the survey’s key findings included:
- The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is universal: 98% of organisations have been impacted within the first three weeks and the remaining 2% expect some impact in the future.
- coronavirus (COVID-19) is expected to impact on organisational survival: 82% of organisations report high or moderate risk to the long-term viability of their organisation.
- Financial reserves are limited: 46% of organisations can survive for no more than six months.
- Flexible support required: In terms of support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and our partners, you asked for greater flexibility for existing projects/grants (75%) and emergency funding (53%).
Read more in the blog by Tom Walters, our Head of Research, Data & Insight.
Download full analysis of our survey, and the parallel survey we commissioned with Wildlife and Countryside Link.
We remain open for business
We are fully operational and open for business, but we are conducting much of our day to day business remotely. We are doing everything we can to ensure we maintain business as usual.
Our Area and Country teams are contactable should you need any advice or further guidance.
Contact us
We are supportive of what you feel are necessary judgments and/or appropriate decisions to maintain the health and wellbeing of your employees and the people you engage through your work. We advise you to follow the NHS and Government advice.
NHS and Government advice
We are following the Chief Medical Officer’s advice. The NHS has published information about the symptoms, essential hygiene and what action people should be taking to reduce the virus spreading.
This is a changing environment, so it is important to keep abreast of these important updates. Information from the Government is being updated daily.
- For Northern Ireland: https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/
- For Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
- For Wales: https://gov.wales/coronavirus