Small Grants Scheme
Scheme update – Two Round 8 Awardees
CGT Chairman Liz Whittle announced that the Awards Committee have agreed to grant the maximum £500 to Prestley Wood Academy at Alconbury Weald. This recently established special-needs school plans to create a Sensory Garden with raised flower beds allowing all pupils to get hands-on with Nature, as well as benefitting their physical and mental well-being in a calm and controlled space.
Liz also announced the award of £500 to Ashbeach Primary Forest School at Ramsey Heights, Huntingdon. The grant will be used to acquire educational resources from RSPB and others to enhance the educational value of the School Common, the site of the Forest School sessions. These resources will help children to explore wildlife, conservation and fire safety through direct engagement that promotes curiosity, observation, and a connection to the natural world.
Round 9
The Trust welcomes applications to the current ninth round of the Scheme. The deadline for receipt of applications is 31 December 2025 and the awardees will be announced by the end of January 2026. Full details on applying for a Small Grant are found at the bottom of the page (or click here). Immediately below, we summarise recipients of previous awards.
Previous Award Winners
£500 to Fenstanton and Hilton Primary School Gardening Club. This is a start-up project and the funds will go towards the purchase of a greenhouse, top soil, seeds and plants, and gardening tools. The establishment of a school garden will not only serve as a vibrant outdoor classroom, but it will also provide valuable opportunities for learning, enjoyment, and mental health benefits.
£500 to the Friends of Holt Island Nature Reserve for their Boardwalk Campaign. This important area near to St Ives Parish Church once hosted a thriving basket-weaving industry and is now a haven for wildlife as well as an oasis of peace for quiet recreation. Its boardwalk for public access needs to be replaced and this grant will go a small way to achieving the Friends’ funding target.
£500 to the Friends of St. Peter’s Church, Offord Darcy. This Grade I church is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust and the Friends have taken on the upkeep of both the church and its churchyard. This award will help to rewild the churchyard to encourage greater biodiversity. Signage, activities and Open Days will enhance public use and enjoyment of the church and its setting.
£493.80 to The Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs & Northants for the development of a new herb garden for their Little Bugs group, which will provide safe, fragrant and tasty ingredients for Little Bugs’ recipes.
£500 to Abbots Ripton Church of England Primary School for the development of a school ‘allotment’ on an unused area of the school’s field, where more raised beds will be installed.
£500 for the Manor Fund at Hemingford Grey for the replacement of pergola and trellis timbers, thereby improving the the visual impact and aesthetic presentation of the garden, as well as maintaining the safety of the pergolas and trellises.
£500 was awarded to Hilton Community Garden, for the installation of galvanised edging to separate paths from garden borders and fruit cages, facilitating maintenance and preventing soil getting scattered across visitors’ walkways.
£248 was given to to Swavesey Community Orchard, a new 40-tree orchard close to the guided busway stop, for the purchase of permanent labels embossed with each fruit tree’s variety and name. Permanent labelling of each tree will help to conserve local and heritage fruit trees, to inform visitors and add to the their enjoyment of the orchard.
£337.50 for the Woodlands MacMillan Treatment Centre of Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon. This will pay for an ornamental flowering cherry tree and roses to enhance and enliven an open space in the garden, for the benefit of patients, staff and visitors to the hospital.
£250 for the Springbank Ward Sensory Garden, a therapeutic garden at Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge. The money will go towards creating the garden and buying plants, seeds and equipment. The garden will create an area of sensory experience that will be beneficial to the service users.
£230 for the Ramsey Abbey Walled Kitchen Garden Trust. This is to pay for plant labelling equipment. Plant labels will have various educational benefits, will enable better accuracy and will enhance visitors’ enjoyment of the gardens.
Information about the scheme and how to apply for grants can be found below.
Scheme background and details for applicants
From 2010 to 2015 CGT funded a five-year outreach programme to raise public awareness of Cambridgeshire’s green spaces. Our most successful activities involved providing small grants for schools and other institutions to develop projects that aligned with the Trust’s aims.
Now, we are delighted to announce a new Small Grants Scheme whereby groups, charities and individuals may apply for grants of up to £500 to support, in whole or in part, projects within Cambridgeshire that meet the Trust’s aims (see below). These broadly could be for park and garden works, community benefit, education or research.
The scheme is effective immediately, will last for 5 years, and will have two calls for applications per year with closing dates at the end of June and December. Evaluations will be coordinated by CGT Chair, Liz Whittle, and applicants will receive decisions by the end of the month following closure of each call.
Further details on funding eligibility, guidance for applicants and an application form can be found by downloading these two documents:
– SGS Notes For Applicants
– SGS Application Form
When completed, the application form can be submitted, at any time, as an email attachment to admin@cambridgeshiregardenstrust.org.uk.
The Small Grants Scheme is funded initially by a budget of £5,000 from the Trust’s reserves and we expect it to be sustained through surpluses from event charging, fund-raising and donations. If you would like to get involved, or have a project that you think would benefit from our help, or if you would like to make a donation to support the programme, please contact us at admin@cambridgeshiregardenstrust.org.uk
Cambridgeshire Gardens Trust Aims:
– to promote the education of the public on matters of the history of garden land;
– to conserve, enhance and re-create for the education and enjoyment of the public, garden land that may exist or have existed in Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority of Peterborough.
Cambridgeshire Gardens Trust 