We award Sustainable City Grants to help local groups to deliver activities or events in Cambridge. The activities must contribute to our Climate Change Strategy objectives.

Voluntary and community organisations can apply for up to £10,000. You can apply for funding for multiple projects, but the total must not exceed £10,000.

Eligibility criteria

Your organisation must:

• be a voluntary or community organisation
• have a bank account
• have a governing document, such as a constitution

Your project must:

• be located in the city of Cambridge
• be completed by 31 March 2026
• benefit residents or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cambridge

Your application must address one of the funding priorities:

• Reduction of carbon emissions from homes and businesses
• Increased reuse, recycling and reduction of general waste produced by residents or businesses
• Increased use of sustainable transport modes
• Increased access to sustainably produced food
• Support residents and businesses to prepare and respond to the impacts of climate change such as heatwaves, flooding or water shortages

It must achieve one or more of the following outcomes:

• Reduction of carbon emissions from homes and businesses
• Increased reuse and recycling and reduction of general waste produced by residents and/or businesses
• Increased use of sustainable transport modes
• Increased access to sustainably produced food
• Supported residents and business better able to prepare and respond to the impacts of climate change, such as heatwaves, flooding or water shortages

Applicants must also demonstrate how the project will enable the following to take part, or benefit, in the activities and support to be provided:

• City residents with the most need, including those on low incomes, or
• Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 250 employees and less than £43m turnover or £37m balance sheet total

The grant:

• cannot fund capital costs such as fixed, one-time expenses for assets including buildings and their fixtures, vehicles or equipment
• cannot fund research and feasibility studies
• can be spent on venue hire to host activities and costs to run activities

Apply for a Sustainable City Grant

If you think your organisation meets the eligibility criteria and your project clearly meets the funding priorities and outcomes, contact us to request an application form or download it here.

You will need to complete an additional activity application form if you want to apply for more than one activity.

• Application guidance [PDF, 0.3MB]
• Application form [RTF, 0.8MB]
• Additional activity application form [RTF, 0.6MB]

The deadline for applications for projects to be delivered in 2025/26 is 18 September 2024.

Previous projects

Projects that were funded in previous years include:

• Cambridge Carbon Footprint’s Open Eco Homes project, which helped people create low-energy homes
• Co-Farm in Abbey, which supports more than 200 people to run their own community farm
• Cambridge Sustainable Food’s work to:
  • support the Cambridge Food Poverty Alliance
  • support nine community food hubs
• Papworth Trust’s project to repair and refurbish bicycles for low-income residents

Other funding

If your project does not fit the criteria for a Sustainable City Grant, consider applying for one of the other grants we offer.