Wolfson Foundation: Sustainability Fund

Overview

Eligibility

The Sustainability Fund is intended to support previous Wolfson grant holders to undertake basic refurbishment and maintenance works that have a clear emphasis on enhancing the sustainability of buildings, improving energy efficiency and reducing ongoing costs.

Grants will be awarded in the range of £10,000 – £50,000 with up to 100% of funding offered, including irrecoverable VAT.

No match funding is required, although for projects over £50,000 it should be clear where additional funding will come from.

The organisation should meet all of the following criteria. Please read this section together with ‘What we don’t fund’ below:

• be one of the following types of organisations or places: charities working with disability, mental health or older people; hospices and palliative care organisations; historic buildings and landscapes; libraries and archives; museums and galleries; performing arts organisations
• have been awarded a capital grant from the Wolfson Foundation before January 2020
• for health and disability charities – be registered with the relevant regulatory authority, where applicable, and continue to have at least a ‘good’ rating.

There is no cap on the size of charities that can apply to this programme, but it is likely that they will prioritise smaller organisations with greater reliance on voluntary or earned (e.g. local authority fees) income. Larger organisations, particularly those where the costs of the project could be readily absorbed within their annual maintenance budget, are likely to be a lower priority.

The project should meet all of the following criteria:

• involve refurbishment, maintenance works and/or equipment purchase
• have both (1) a direct environmental benefit; (2) a benefit in terms of ongoing running costs of the organisation
• have a total project cost of £10,000 – £75,000 incl. irrecoverable VAT
• be informed by an energy audit from an external specialist agency, or other advice received from e.g. an architect or building contractor.

Examples of eligible projects include solar panels, heat pumps, green roofs, energy-efficient glazing, replacement of inefficient heating/hot water systems, and LED lighting.

They expect to award grants to standalone environmental improvements or refurbishment works through this fund. If these form part of a larger masterplan or redevelopment of your site, you may want to consider applying through their main capital funding programmes instead. They are unable to consider the same project through both routes.

Please note that, if your application is successful, you will be asked to wait two years before submitting a new application to them. You should therefore ensure that the project that you apply for is a priority over the next two years.