Our Local Nature Grant Scheme

We recognise the expertise of young people and those that work closely with them, and so we are keen to hear what activities you think would work best for engaging people with your local nature and natural spaces.

The grant can be used for materials, room hire, publicity, public-speakers, training-professionals, contractors and freelancers, project-specific staff costs (see limitation below), audio-visual hire, reasonable volunteer expenses, transport or other costs of activities/ events.

The grant cannot be used for large prizes, on-going salary costs, costs that are already covered by other funding, general running costs, retrospective spending, activities outside the project period, and overheads that are paid for by other income. More than half of the grant cannot be spent on refreshments or project-specific staff costs.

These grants are available to individuals and organisations who are linked with a group of young people within the UK.

This includes, but is not limited to, school staff, student groups, home education groups, community groups and small charities. There must be evidence that the applicant is linked with a group of young people. We will not award more than one grant to any one applicant in any one year.

Our application process is designed to be simple to allow young people to apply with adult support. We aim to encourage thoughtful applications without too much strain on your valuable time.

You can apply for funding by filling out the online application form above. Contact learning@linnean.org if you require a different format.

You will be asked to provide the following information in your application:

• Details of the person/people making the application - This is your chance to tell us about who is involved in the development of this application. We want to support youth-led projects so make sure you indicate the role that young people are playing in development and decision-making processes.
• A description of your proposed project - Fill us in on your plans and ideas! We will be assessing proposals on their potential to empower young people to increase access to natural spaces and improve understanding of the local biodiversity. We also want to ensure that your plans are detailed enough to cover all practicalities.
• An outline of your expected timeline – Alongside your description of your proposed project this will help us have a clear picture of your plan. A good timeline covers key dates and milestones for your project and gives us the confidence that you will be able to follow through with your plans.
• An outline of who/what would benefit - This grant seeks to empower local young people to enact the change they want to see. This means that the beneficiaries of the project could be a wide range of people or things. We are interested in projects that have a legacy - think about what the long-term impacts of this grant could be.
• A budget outline (ideally in bullet points) of how the grant money will be used - We will be assessing applications on whether we think the project is well-budgeted - check you’re not asking for too much, or too little. A good budget provides us with confidence that you will be able to follow through with your plans and complete your project.

Successful grant recipients will be required to sign a simple grant agreement before funds are released. This will confirm that the grant must be spent only on the agreed project; that the organisation has appropriate authority, permissions, safeguarding, health and safety arrangements and insurance in place; and that any significant changes must be agreed with the Linnean Society in advance. Grantees will be required to deliver the project within the agreed timeframe, provide a short end-of-project evaluation with evidence of activity, keep a record and evidence of expenditure, acknowledge funder support where appropriate, and return any unspent or misused funds.

The key terms and conditions to be aware of at this stage are:

• Your project will take place between 7 December 2026 and 6 July 2027
• A responsible person at your organisation (e.g. a Headteacher, CEO or chairperson) will sign a grant letter confirming the project to be delivered.

If you wish to see all the terms and conditions of the grant agreement, please email learning@linnean.org.

We don't!

The awardees will be selected by a Youth Panel made up of 16–18-year-olds. The Youth Panel will review all applications and come to a decision, facilitated by the Society's Education Manager. The Youth Panel will also be encouraged to meet with the successful applicants to see the projects' impact first hand.

The Panel will be guided by these criteria:

• Are the applicants eligible for this grant?
• Do you fully understand this proposal?
• Have the applicants shown that their proposal is feasible financially and logistically?
• Does this proposal have a long term impact on the intended audience?
• Do you believe that this proposal is the best one to achieve the grant's objectives?