Environmental grants
External grants to help fund energy efficiency improvements to Girlguiding properties, or for creating outdoor spaces
Grants to help fund environmental projects, so girls can take action on climate change.
84% of our young members say it's important to them to do something about climate change, so it’s up to all of us to do what we can to actively reduce our impact on the environment. In guiding, this could include things like making the buildings we use more energy efficient with repairs or refurbishments, or creating new outdoor spaces to provide a home for wildlife and help girls learn about nature.
Many trusts and foundations offer resources to help with environmental projects. Here are some of the grants you can apply for.
External grants from trusts and foundations
- Bernard Sunley Foundation. Grants for the refurbishment of community buildings, including buildings with ties to scouting and guiding. The buildings can either be owned or rented (with at least 10 years remaining on the lease). These grants can't be used to fully fund projects, but can contribute towards overall costs. You can apply all year round. Read a case study of a Scout hut funded by the Foundation.
- Energy Saving Trust. A grant-making charity that aims to provide opportunities and support to children and young people experiencing inequality. Their grants help young people take direct action to address the climate emergency.
- The England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO). This government grant provides support to create new woodland in outdoor spaces as small as 1 hectare. If you want to establish a wooded space at a property or campsite, this grant could be helpful for you.
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). A government grant that supports property owners to replace existing fossil fuel heating with more efficient, low carbon heating systems. Small, non-domestic properties can be eligible for this.
- HDH Wills. Small and large grants for wildlife and environmental causes. This could be a great option if you’re looking for support to help maintain outdoor spaces.
- Morrisons Foundation. Funding for a range of different projects, including refurbishments and repairs to buildings.
- VCSE Energy Efficiency grants. This grant is currently closed for applications, but should be reopening shortly. They provide grants for Independent Energy Assessments. These evaluate a building’s energy usage and efficiency, and help you identify areas for potential savings.
- Veolia Environmental Trust. The Trust awards grants between £10,000 and £75,000 for projects to improve community facilities and the natural environment. Projects can be focused on making building improvements to improve carbon efficiency, or on outdoor spaces. Try the postcode checker on their website to find out if you’re in an eligible area.
Other places to look out for environmental grants
- Community Foundations. Every county will have a community foundation, which offers funding for lots of types of projects, including building refurbishments and repairs. Use the search tool on the website to find your local foundation.
- Windfarms, airports, landfill and other large infrastructure. Large infrastructure sites like these will very often have pots of funding available for projects in the local community. If there’s something like this near you, it’s worth searching for its name plus words like ‘funding’ or ’community grant’, or getting in touch with them directly to find out what’s on offer.
Make sure to read funder requirements carefully when you apply for a grant! For capital grants (where building or refurbishment work is involved), funders can be particular about making sure every purchase and stage of the work is accounted for. It’s good to be aware of this from the beginning, so you can keep an easy digital filing system of all the different aspects involved in the project – for example, ‘February 2025 invoices’ or ‘J&B bricks supplier’.
Talking points to help you apply for an environmental grant
Below are some points from our environmental strategy that you can use in your application to explain why the funding is needed. For more general guidance on writing an application for a grant, take a look at our grants guidance page.
- 84% of our young members say it's important to them to do something about climate change. We owe it to our young members to take responsibility for our environmental impact, and we're committed to making their concerns a priority.
- Almost 9 in 10 (87%) of our young members agree that we all have a responsibility to save energy and reduce waste to protect the environment.
- Girls and women have less representation in spaces where decisions are made about tackling climate change. This includes spaces such as government and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professions. We want to help girls feel empowered to enter STEM-related education and training, leading to greater inclusion for women in green jobs in the future.
Our goals to achieve are:
- Build awareness: by 2026, staff and volunteers will be environmentally conscious and ready to act.
- Reduce HQ and Trading emissions: we’ll cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2040. We’ll do this by implementing changes across guiding, from how we heat our buildings, our uniform re-design, to the supply chains for our shops and beyond.
- Eco-guiding: we’ll empower our 24,000 units to be as sustainable as possible.
- Change society: we’ll inspire girls and young women to lead environmental change by 2028.