Funding available from the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment
TOE’s Local Environment Fund supports projects which halt the decline in nature and connect people with green spaces and the countryside on their doorstep. These projects, led by Parish Councils, were awarded grants last month
- Haseley Earthshot Action Group in partnership with Great Haseley Parish Council have a grant to restore the parish’s community woodland. The Great Haseley Millennium Wood was planted in 2000 on the site of former allotment gardens that had fallen into disuse. Though the overall health of the woodland is good, very little to no maintenance has been undertaken since its creation. The project aims to restore the Great Haseley Millennium Wood and improve its current and future management for both wildlife value (in terms of enhancing biodiversity through new habitat creation and improved management of existing habitat) and community value (in terms of community awareness, access and quality of green space available). The grant will pay for the trees to be pruned and thinned as necessary, a new hedge to be planted and for a wildflower glade to be created.
- The grant awarded to volunteers from South Leigh Forest Restoration, a group affiliated to South Leigh Parish Council, will cover the cost of planting 30 new trees within an existing 500m hedgerow by the lane approaching Margery Cross. The new trees, which will replace ancient elms that old photographs show lined Church End to the heart of the old village and the church, will be a mix of oak, wild cherry, hornbeam and field maple.
- Uffington Parish Council will be using their grant to replace three stiles with metal kissing gates on a footpath used by many people to get from one side of the village to the other. Once this project has been completed, the Parish Council will be well on the way to making their parish stile-free.
If your Council, or a community group in your parish, is planning a project, email admin@trustforoxfordshire.org.uk to arrange a chat about the grants available for not-for-profit organisations (including parish and town councils), and check that your idea meets our funding criteria.
Are you planting trees for the Queen’s Green Canopy?
In addition, this year TOE is working with the Lord Lieutenant for Oxfordshire and her colleagues to support the Queen’s Green Canopy campaign, created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. Grants are available through the Local Environment Fund to plant trees and to establish native, species-rich woodland habitats across the county including new hedges, community orchards or woodland so please get in touch if your parish is looking for funding.
Grants are awarded quarterly and the next deadline is 27 July 2022. Detailed guidance and the application form can be downloaded from www.trustforoxfordshire.org.uk/main-fund