Another £100,000 available for climate and nature recovery projects
28 April 2026
The Vale of White Horse District Council’s annual grant fund for climate and nature recovery projects opens a week today on Tuesday 5 May, with £100,000 available for local community groups and town and parish councils.
The Nature and Climate Action Fund will welcome applications for proposals to tackle climate change, adapt to climate change and support nature recovery. The council is looking for projects which include an element of education and engagement with others. There is a total of £100,000 available, with a minimum grant of £250 and a maximum of £10,000 per project. Applicants have until midday 29 June to apply.
The fund, formerly known as the Climate Action Fund, is now called the Nature and Climate Fund to reflect that it supports projects which help biodiversity and nature recovery as well as those seeking to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Last year successful proposals included the restoration of a floodplain meadow in Cumnor and a giveaway of 1,600 young trees to residents to plant in their gardens (see below).
The Vale and Downland Museum successfully applied last year for help decarbonising its 18th Century building in Wantage. The fund supported the installation of secondary glazing to windows to improve insulation. Further energy saving measures were added and in March 2026 the museum won the Small Business Britain’s Green Growth Award for their climate action work.
Cllr Dr Robert Clegg, Vale of White Horse District Council Cabinet member for Environmental Services, Climate Action and Nature Recovery, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer the fund once again to local community groups and town and parish councils with their plans for positive change. Since we started this fund in 2022, we have been overwhelmed with the enthusiasm and variety of projects going on in the Vale. People are working hard to improve nature and act on climate change and we are proud to be able to support them.”
Full details of the Nature and Climate Action Fund and how to apply are available on our Nature and Climate Action Fund page on our website.
Notes to editors
John, from Sustainable Blewbury, explained: “We had the land but before we could do anything further, we needed to do some important checks, such as wildlife and historic surveys. We successfully applied for a grant of £500 from Vale to pay for the surveys, which fortunately proved that we could proceed.” Since then, volunteers have planted 850 trees and 2,000 hedge plants at the site.
