23 August 2010

Community Spaces is a Lottery-funded programme managed by Groundwork UK. The programme offers grants to community organisations in England. The community organisations use the grants to create or regenerate local spaces to improve the quality of life in their neighbourhoods.
Applications can only come from community organisations in England. A community organisation is defined as a group of people living in one particular area and focused on a neighbourhood who are considered as a unit because of their common interest, background, nationality or other circumstances. People should not have to pay to be a member of the group, there cannot be any restrictions on membership, the majority of people should be voluntary members, and the majority should live with 2 miles of the site where the environmental project is located.
Applications cannot be made by statutory organisations including schools, health bodies, housing associations, or parish or town councils. All projects must be within a 2-mile radius of a residential area and must be open to the public most of the time.
Suitable projects must meet all of the following outcomes:

•  Improve local environments

•  Increase people's access to quality local spaces for interaction, play and recreation

•  Increase numbers of people who are actively involved in developing and running a practical environmental project that is visible in their community

•  Improve partnerships between support organisations, communities and authorities.

Community organisations can apply for a small grant of between £10,000 and £25,000, or a medium grant of between £25,001 and £49,999. Applications must be made before 28 January 2011, when the programme will come to an end.
The application process is in two stages. Information about the first stage can be found on the Community Spaces website here.