Community Spaces is a £50 million open grants programme funded through the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces initiative and managed by Groundwork UK on behalf of an experienced national consortium.

The programme empowers community groups to improve public spaces in their neighbourhood. It responds directly to people’s aspirations to have better places on their doorsteps – more interesting places for children to play, safer places for people of all ages to sit, greener spaces where people and nature can grow and flourish.

The Community Spaces programme aims to:

• Create better local environments
• Increase people’s access to quality local spaces for interaction, play and recreation
• Increase the number of people actively involved in developing and running a practical environmental project that is visible in their community
• Improve partnerships between communities, support organisations and local authorities

To successfully apply for a Community Spaces grant, applications must show that projects will improve local neighbourhoods and environments. Types of projects can include for example;

• Community gardens and parks
• Informal sports areas and multi-use games areas
• Nature reserves
• Squares and village greens
• Churchyards
• Ponds and projects which improve the local community’s access to green space

This list is not exhaustive and if you are thinking about a project that isn’t mentioned it may still be considered - as long as it meets the eligibility criteria.

There will be some cross over with other Big Lottery Fund funding streams. For example, projects looking at play areas, orchards, city farms and woodlands will be considered as long as they meet the general criteria of the programme, although there are other Big Lottery Fund Changing Spaces Programmes that will also fund these types of projects.

For more information and to apply visit www.community-spaces.org.uk

A full list of what Community Spaces fund will and will not fund is given within the criteria section.