Energy Saving Trust: Youth Climate Action Fund

Overview

The Energy Saving Trust Foundation’s Youth Climate Action Fund supports young people in the UK to take action on the climate issues that matter most to them.

What are they looking for

The aim of Sustainable Youth is to increase young people’s engagement with the environment and sustainability. It does this by providing a seven-stage framework for young people to take action around an environmental issue of their choosing.

There’s a guide for youth workers wanting to deliver the programme and thereby support young people to carry out an environmental social action project.

All successful grantees will be required to attend one day’s training provided by Ulster Wildlife. Please make sure you build in the staff time to attend this training into your budget at full application stage.

About the grants

Grants are available to organisations based in Northern Ireland only.
Grants are to support the delivery of Sustainable Youth only.
Grants will be made for a period of two years.
Organisations can apply for up to £20,000 a year (£40,000 in total). Applications at all funding levels are encouraged.
They look at each application individually, but our general rule is normally the grant amount requested can’t be more than 25% of your annual income.
They encourage all organisations to apply for core costs which can be up to 25% of the total grant request.

Who can apply

Organisations already working with children and young people experiencing inequality.
Organisations with an annual income for the last financial year of less than £1 million.
Organisations must be prepared to deliver the Sustainable Youth Curriculum and attend the one-day training.

Your organisation must be a:

UK charity registered with the relevant charity regulator.
community interest company (CIC)
charitable incorporated organisation (CIO)
community benefit society
voluntary or community organisation
not-for-profit company limited by guarantee (with a not-for-profit ‘asset lock’ clause)
school (if your project isn’t linked to the national curriculum)
statutory body (including local authorities, town, parish and community council)

Notes

All successful organisations will have to commit to due diligence checks and verify their bank details.
They aim to give feedback on all applications.
Grant payments will be made annually in advance of need.
They’ll confirm reporting requirements at the grant agreement stage but currently we’re expecting grantees to report on a six-monthly basis.
If your application is successful, we’ll also talk to you about how to promote your work and how they can share learning with the wider sector.

Funding

Grants are for up to £40,000, over two years.

This is funding that supports the core organisational and administrative costs of your organisation. These costs are outside any specific service delivery and could include (but not limited to):

Staff salaries and training
Day to day running costs and operations including rent and energy bills.
Governance and audit
Monitoring and evaluation
Marketing and communications
IT

They recognise how valuable core organisational funding is and encourage all applications to factor these costs into your budget.

Eligible Costs

The following costs are eligible:

running costs to deliver the Environment and Sustainability Curriculum
core organisation costs
staff costs
equipment necessary to deliver the work you’re requesting support for
training costs for staff, volunteers and children and young people
venue hire
travel costs
other costs associated with removing barriers to access for young people
volunteer expenses
budget for young people-led project development
small scale capital costs

This isn’t an exhaustive list of costs that are eligible for funding. If you’re not sure if your application will be covered, please contact Lindsay Marsden, Head of Foundation.

Track grant Notes