Stockport Climate Action Now (CAN) Catalyst Fund
About Stockport Climate Action Now (CAN)
We're committed to tackling climate change to create a greener future for everyone.
The key to tackling climate change is to reduce levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. As well as the global benefits, this helps improve the quality of life locally, affecting health, wellbeing, and community resilience.
You can find out more about CAN on our climate change pages.
About the CAN Catalyst Fund
The Stockport CAN Catalyst Fund supports communities and schools to take climate action locally.
Grants between £1,000 and £5,000 are available for ambitious projects that raise awareness about climate change and enable people to take climate actions.
Applications are open from 1 December 2024 to 28 February 2025.
Funding decisions will be made by the cabinet member for Climate Change and Environment.
Note: Smaller projects with budgets up to £1,000 may be more suited to the CAN Seed Fund.
Who can apply?
Eligible groups include, but are not limited to:
- voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations
- charitable and not-for-profit organisations
- schools and colleges
The funding cannot be used for private benefit. Therefore, not eligible for this funding includes:
- individuals
- single households
- businesses
What kind of proposals will we fund?
We can fund lots of different activities that will help tackle climate change. Proposals funded by this scheme must have one or more of the following primary aims:
- climate engagement and behaviour change
- greenhouse gas reduction
- adaptation to climate change
When assessing your proposal, we’ll be thinking about:
how your project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote adaptation to climate change, or engage people with climate action and influence behaviour
how your group will measure outcomes, including greenhouse gas emissions reductions and number of engagements achieved
whether your proposal demonstrates clear plans for how you'll deliver your project
whether your proposal shows clear plans for how you'll engage people, reduce barriers and increase participation, in particular with underrepresented groups and those who are not already taking climate action
how your group will communicate and share project successes and learning
what the lasting impact of the project will be
the balance of projects supported within each round of funding, to make sure there's enough geographic and thematic diversity
Important information
There are some rules that your project must adhere to:
If your proposal involves the use of land, including planting, you must have permission from the landowner (including if the landowner is the council). We'll need to see evidence of this from the point of application. Without this, your application will be ineligible.
Applicants will have full responsibility for any ongoing maintenance resulting from their proposal.
Your proposal must not have any religious or political message.
If your proposal is nature-focused rather than climate-focused, you must evidence a long-term planting plan. This plan must encourage biodiversity, include pollinators, and allow for carbon capture by leaving the soil undisturbed once planted. You must also include a species list and a management proposal.
If your application is successful, then:
- you must keep receipts as evidence of how you spent the money
- you must provide an end of project report
- you'll be invited to provide photographs and quotes to help us promote your project
How long will it take to get a decision?
For the current round of applications, which are open from 1 December 2024 to 28 February 2025, decisions will be made in March 2025.
If you're successful, we'll arrange for payment of the grant.
What happens after I apply?
We'll evaluate your application for eligibility. If eligible, we'll pass your application on to the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment. They'll assess your application against all others during a decision-making meeting. Decisions will be made as part of a executive decision record and will be made publicly available.
If your application is successful, we’ll send you an email to give you the good news and to ask for bank details so that we can begin processing your grant.
If your application is unsuccessful, we’ll email you to let you know.
Once you receive the money, you can get going on your project. You should spend the funding the way you said you would in your application, and within 12 months of receiving funding.
We’ll get in touch around the time you said your proposal will be delivered. We'll ask for receipts for the items and services you bought with the funding, some photos of what the money was spent on, and interviews so we can showcase our amazing projects.
Any more questions?
If you have any questions that haven’t been answered by this guidance, then you can email us at stockportcanfund@stockport.gov.uk.
Otherwise, you can apply below.