GreenLight funding

If you need more time to put your application in, please note your Expression of Interest by emailing greenlight@eccan.scot. A brief synopsis of the project should be included in the email, along with a budget cost and timeline.

For grants up to £1,000, the scheme will remain open until funding runs out – but please note a Scottish Government requirement is that funds are spent by March 2025.

Grants are allocated to elligble project whilst funds remain.  Where larger projects require development time we have an Expression of Interest criteria that will bring the applicants  to a renewed round of funding later in the year, should funds still be available.

Who can apply? – Eligibility for application and assessment process

You can make your application online or through a paper application form. To apply, you will need to become a member of ECCAN, and to be one of the following: community group (with or without a constitution), registered charity, social enterprise/non-profit, Community Interest Company, Community Benefit Society, or an individual (note you must partner with a group in order for us to transfer funds).

A six-person panel including local environmental experts and community leaders will assess applications based on:

* Alignment with the outcomes, outputs listed below

 * Project feasibility, including a clear timeline and budget.

 * Capacity and experience of the applicant.

Note: Panel members cannot be a member of or affiliated to any group making an application to the fund, to eliminate conflict of interest concerns.

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What does our project need to achieve to be eligible for Greenlight?

Projects should aim to achieve at least one of the following outcomes:

1. Mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and damaging environmental impacts.
2. Protect, enhance or increase local biodiversity.
3. Help communities adapt to and build resilience to climate change.
4. Raise awareness of, and prompt, action on climate.
5. Communities, organisations and residents work together collaboratively to address the climate emergency

To help achieve ECCAN’s vision and objectives, we will prioritise projects that:

• Aim to create long-term change to combat the climate emergency.
• Build the skills and capacity of groups or organisations and communities. 
• Support and encourage collaborative working across groups or organisations, communities, and areas.
• Encourage sustainability through reusing, recycling, and upcycling goods and products. 
• Encourage climate action and a just transition at a community level
• Mitigate climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce environmental impact
• Help communities adapt to and build resilience to climate change
• Protect or enhance local biodiversity through conservation and promotion
• Demonstrate equality, diversity and inclusivity values (NCVO have a guide to DEI for charities and community groups here)

Projects should broadly align with ECCAN’s stated outcomes;

1. Raise awareness. Build awareness, skills and capacities in the community to tackle the climate emergency.
2. Deliver climate action.  More communities and people are taking climate action that is local, visible and promotes long-term change. 
3. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Community environmental action is inclusive, normalised and mainstreamed. Both awareness and action initiatives include diverse communities and participants.
4. Working together. Communities, organisations and residents are empowered to work together to reduce emissions, improve the environment and adapt to the effects of climate change.

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Other things to consider

• ECCAN’s mission statement and values are here (link)  –  please consider these when designing your projects. 
• We encourage applications that are led by young people or disadvantaged or minority groups.
• We value a collaborative approach to a project including a clear indication of how the project is meeting community needs and will have a positive impact across all groups.
• We encourage collaborative applications that embed the artistic voice and vision in the project.
• We support applications that consider a sustainable approach to procurement including localism, community wealth building, recycling and re-use.
• We prefer that any travel expenses would be for active travel (walking/biking/wheeling) or sustainable travel such as public or shared transport.
• Trees, plants and seeds should be native, responsibly and locally sourced where possible. Tree planting as a standalone project will not be funded.
• Our fund will cover staff costs to deliver new projects but not new posts to deliver existing projects. Please note: This criterion has been clarified since the fund opened, to specify that we can fund staff costs towards your new project. If you have any queries please contact us at greenlight@eccan.scot
• Projects in public, open and green spaces, or residential amenity areas, should ensure that relevant permissions and agreements are in place to carry out the project.
• We may be able to provide funding for legal ‘direct action’. However, no part of your project should prevent freedom of speech, incite or promote violence or aggression or promote or facilitate illegal activities.
• We welcome proposals that will help groups leverage wider funding, including match funding. We require applications to identify specific costs that the fund would cover in the context of match funding.
• We acknowledge that not all projects will be fully outcome based. Whilst we will not directly fund feasibility studies, we are happy to fund projects with short -term outcomes that have a longer term feasibility element built-in.
• We support the Living Wage and all paid staff working on GreenLight projects should be paid at least the real Living Wage, including sub-contractors and agency staff.
• There is a limit of <£5000 on nominal capital spend items – equipment such as laptops, machinery, tools etc.

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FAQs

Who can apply?

To apply, you will need to become a member of ECCAN, and to be one of the following: community group (with or without a constitution), registered charity, social enterprise/non-profit, Community Interest Company, Community Benefit Society, or an individual.

Your project should be run by local people under their direction and for the benefit of their community and the environment.

If you are applying as an individual, you need a partner organisation with a bank account who is willing to receive the funds on your behalf.  This organisation should be a local community organisation. If you need help to find a partner, please contact greenlight@eccan.scot.

 

When can I apply?

The application process opens on Monday 19^th August 2024 and applications for more than £1,000 should be submitted by Mon 9^th September. Microgrants (up to £1,000) will be open until the funding pot runs out and no later than March 2025.

We will ensure this is well publicised through our newsletter and social media but if you are applying after November 2024 please email greenlight@eccan.scot beforehand to confirm that the fund is still active.

We need to get the funds out to groups as a matter of urgency for spend within the financial year. We acknowledge that you may need more time to develop your project. For that reason you can post an Expression of interest and we will look at a second round of award in December 2024. We will contact groups who have lodged an EoI by email to confirm the process.

We will notify successful applicants w/c Mon 23rd September (Climate Week – link required) by email. The email will contain a formal grant acceptance proforma, including bank details. This proforma should be signed, dated and returned to ECCAN within 10 working days.Microgrants applied for beyond the middle of September (and therefore outwith the original application window) will hear within ten days of submittal, by email.

How do we apply?

Applying couldn’t be easier! Simply click the link and fill out the application form highlighted on this page. Or download the PDF application form from the website and return it to us in person or by post. If you wish us to post out a paper application form give us a call on 07554 439980 .

What happens after my application has been submitted?

You will receive an automated email acknowledging receipt of your application form, with a reference number.

We will notify successful applicants w/c Mon 23rd September – Climate Week – by email. The email will contain a formal grant acceptance proforma, including bank details. This proforma should be signed, dated and returned to ECCAN within 10 working days.

What happens if we are successful?

ECCAN will contact you by email to confirm the amount and your bank details. Payment is usually made within 7-10 days after we receive the bank details and grant acceptance form.

Successful projects will be shared on our website with the organisation or group’s name, project description and link to their website (funding amounts will not be publicised).

Please note that all funding must be spent and projects are substantially delivered by end of March 2024. Your project programme submitted with the application should reflect this clearly. We will NOT accept applications that show delivery beyond this date.

Can I apply for more than one project?

Yes up to a maximum of two successful microgrants and/or one large/medium scale project. We wish to fund as many diverse organisations and projects as possible.

If Greenlight funds remain later in the year, we may increase the funding limit to ensure that all funds are allocated by the end of financial year 24-25.

How do I get help with my application?

ECCAN will be running surgeries to help groups with the application process. Please contact greenlight@eccan.scot for further information on surgery dates and locations.
If any information on this page is difficult to understand we are happy to provide it in other formats, including larger print upon request.

Will we need to report on our project?

Yes learning from your project is part of the ECCAN process. We are interested in hearing about any challenges you faced with your project, and anything that worked well.

Please do take lots of photos of your project for knowledge sharing and publicity purposes. Please be aware that if you don’t provide feedback and evidence of how you have spent the grant, we won’t able to consider you for grants in the future.

For medium and large scale projects we ask that participants engage in a bi-monthly sharing workshop with a short written report. The online workshop will comprise a 5 slide PowerPoint (format to be confirmed) – that will be drawn directly from your report. The bi-monthly reports will then be collated into a project end-report by you, looking at challenges, risks, outputs and outcomes. Please refer to the full guidance document for additional information.

For microgrants, we will ask for a two page PDF report with photos. Broadly speaking this will look at challenges, risks, outputs and outcomes. We love to hear stories as to how the project has made a positive impact on the environment, the community and people’s lives.

We will issue you with a short form to complete to document how you have spent the money and the impact it has made. Please return this form within 6 months of your funds being allocated. Please send us photographs or photocopies of receipts showing what you have spent the money on.

What happens if I am unsuccessful?

Please contact us to get feedback as to why the previous project didn’t meet the criteria – we hope you will be more successful second time round, if you wish to re-apply. We will work with unsuccessful applicants to increase the viability of projects with merit.

If we believe there are good synergies between your proposal and others we receive (collaborative opportunities that would enhance the impact of both projects), we will contact you with feedback and the next steps you could follow to achieve a successful application.