Funding

Projects within school (like new bins or a school garden) usually need to find funding. There are some ideas in the pages below.

Funding Fundraising Ideas

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Below is a list of grants and other schemes that you may want to look at to help your recycling and reuse in school. You might find further funding opportunities through websites like Grants4Schools or the GRIN website. Devon Funding News also contains lots of information and there are lots of grants listed here: Grants for Schools in Devon 2025/26 – Devon Funding News

The National Education Nature Park has collated a list of funding for school biodiversity projects, which could include recycling or composting projects. See the list here: Finding funding | Education Nature Park

NOTE: These grant giving schemes can open and close at short notice so, while we update this page regularly, you might find the schemes listed are not currently open to applications.

EVOLVE Advice Get Out! Grants

The Get Out! Grant is a series of £500 grants, awarded by EVOLVE Advice, to support schools with providing educational visits opportunities for children and young people. It is open to schools in England and Wales.

Learning through Landscapes – Local School Nature Grants Programme

The Learning through Landscapes grants provide schools with equipment and training. Since their launch in 2017, Local School Nature Grants have helped nearly 2,500 schools across England, Scotland and Wales to improve their outdoor learning provision, enabling thousands more children to profit from time in nature. The outdoor learning grant fund can provide a fully funded outdoor learning training for your staff and up to £500 of equipment for outdoor learning.

Let’s Go Zero – OVO Foundation Grants

Let’s Go Zero – the national campaign for zero carbon schools – is helping school staff and students create fantastic, inspirational projects that inspire climate action through a connection to nature.

For a chance of winning, schools just have to tell us how they would use a prize of £1,000 or £200 to bring their students closer to nature. The competition is supported by The OVO Foundation and there are 25 chances to win: 10 prizes of £1000 and 15 prizes of £200.

Projects might involve tree planting, vegetable growing or supporting wildlife on the school grounds, but your school is free to be as creative as it likes. Our judges will be looking for creative and engaging ideas with the power to inspire young people and the wider school community, and are keen to reward projects that benefit less advantaged groups, such as those in underserved areas.

FORD BRITAIN TRUST

Working with local communities to sow the seeds of change.

The Ford Britain Trust are committed to supporting the communities that they work and live in.

They pay special attention to projects focusing on education, environment, children, the disabled, youth activities and projects that provide clear benefits to the local communities close to their garage locations. They encourage applications supported by Ford employees.

Ford garages are present in Exeter, Exmouth, Sidmouth, Barnstaple and Plymouth so this is worth pursuing if you are near one of those locations, or have a parent/governor who is an employee of Ford.

Alpkit Foundation

Alpkit Foundation helps people Go Nice Places Do Good Things

Alpkit only exists because of our wild places and the people that make them. They make small awards to people, groups and schools that work to remove the barriers in getting outdoors and experience wild places.

Examples of projects they will fund include:

Diversity and Inclusion Projects that engage individual and groups from a diverse range of backgrounds
Environmental Projects that seek to support, conserve, or generate understanding of our environment and wild places
Health Projects enabling people to gain physical and mental wellbeing from the Great Outdoors
Education Projects such as First Aid, D of E, Forest Schools and Mountain Leader
Participation Projects that get more people experiencing the Great Outdoors

Sea Changers Community Fund

Sea-Changers gives one-off grants (i.e. not continual funding) to UK-based charities and not-for-profit organisations (including schools) carrying out marine conservation related activities.

They welcome applications from a variety of groups and entities.

The Naturesave Trust

The Naturesave Trust is the charity arm of Naturesave Insurance, an ethical insurance broker based in Totnes. The Trust provides grants up to £5,000 for environmental projects and opens three themed funding windows per year. Previous themes have included water pollution, soil degradation, sustainable fashion, and plastics.

Patagonia

Patagonia, the outdoor clothing brand, provides grants for environmental groups that are doing innovative work. The aim is to support groups that are taking action to protect the environment – this includes campaigning and involving the community in action to defend threatened habitats.

Projects in the UK are eligible. Grants are generally between $5,000 and $15,000.

Not-for-profit, non-governmental organisations can apply.

Persimmon Homes Community Fund

Every Persimmon Homes office can make a donation of up to £6000 each financial quarter to local groups and organisations. Apply online to your local office.

In Devon there are Persimmon developments in Exeter, Dawlish, Newton Abbot, Okehampton, Barnstaple, Bideford, Cullompton, Ivybridge and Holsworthy.

Save Our Wild Isles Community Fund

Supporting local communities to take action for nature.

Funding is still available from the £1 million Save our Wild Isles Community Fund from WWF, RSPB, and Aviva. Applications closed at 23:59pm on 1 November 2023

The UK is home to some of the most incredible species on Earth, but it’s also one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Let’s change that, together. Our £1 million Save Our Wild Isles Community Fund is here to help community groups across the UK to protect and restore nature in their local area.

Whether you’re working together to plant community gardens, support local wildlife or anything else to help nature near you, we’ll give you £500 to kick-start your project. And, to boost your fundraising, we’ll give you £2 for every £1 you raise, to help your project reach its target quicker.*

Apply now and get £500 when you go live.

South West Water Community Fund

The Better Futures Fund is all about supporting our local community. There will be £100,000-a-year funding available for projects in schools which inspire physical activity, education, health and wellbeing and deliver positive environmental outcomes.

Community Recycle

Community Recycle is a scheme established by companies operating within the external school environment sector. The initiative collects, coordinates, and donates overstocked, unsellable items, returned goods and second-hand equipment to schools across the UK. It’s a great scheme that ensures goods, that would otherwise be left in storage or even go to landfill, are put to good use in the community, saving schools money and brightening up school grounds across the UK.

The types of materials typically include Polycarbonate sheets, Shade sails, Post pads and outdoor furniture items.

Linnean Society “Our Local Nature” Grants. Applications open September 2026

The “Our Local Nature” Grants are available to fund innovative projects, designed and led by young people in the UK, which aim to increase access to local natural spaces and encourage a deeper appreciation and understanding of nature.

Applicants should seek to affect change or empower local young people and the surrounding communities to increase access to natural spaces and improve understanding of the local biodiversity.

The maximum award is £1,000 per proposal. They welcome and encourage applications for significantly lower amounts. The Society is happy to co-fund any project with another organisation.

This grant is purposefully broad and welcomes novel ideas. Some examples of possible proposals could be: running a school festival about nature; painting community murals showcasing biodiversity in the area; building a community garden; creating a nature walk; hiring a speaker to come and talk about local foraging.

The Ernest Cook Trust

The Ernest Cook Trust is an educational charity and their vision is for an environmentally engaged society. Many grants are considered and include environmental education projects, outdoor learning and ‘learning from the land’.

The CAF Tourle Foundation Fund – currently unavailable.

The Tourle Foundation Fund has a £4.5 million budget available for distribution to local charitable organisations delivering services for local people across the UK over the next 10 years.

The list of examples of eligible projects includes funding a charitable organisation set up by the community in a village and a small community group on an estate providing drop in sessions for teenagers.

Organisations must be able to evidence that the project will be delivered to local people, while demonstrating the need and difference it will make.

Wilko Helping Hands Programme- Currently unavailable. Future funding may be reinstated.

Helping the local community is really important to Wilko. Every store has a budget to give a little helping hand to local groups and community projects. You could get Wilko gift cards, products or volunteers to help with whatever you’re doing for your community – whether it’s a raffle prize to help with fund raising or tins of paint and extra helpers to do up a community centre – they’d love to help you!

Garfield Weston Foundation

Founded by a famous Canadian philanthropist, MP, biscuit producer and owner of Fortnum & Mason, the Garfield Weston Foundation donated their billionth pound in 2019. A consistent theme of the Foundation since its inception in 1958 has been the importance placed on the support for education, from small local projects such as reading schemes and after school clubs, to major institutions such as universities.

Awards for All – Big Lottery Fund

Awards for All offers grants of between £300-£20,000 for projects that benefit the community.

Tesco Community Grants

Tesco Bags of Help has changed to Tesco Community Grants.

Tesco Community Grants fund thousands of local community projects across the UK, helping to fight holiday hunger, tackle mental health, support young people, host community events and much more.

Please visit the tescocommunitygrants.org.uk website to find out more about what kinds of projects can be supported, to apply for a grant and to nominate local projects.

Tesco Community Grants support local good causes that focus on helping children and families.

B&Q Community Re-use Scheme

The B&Q Community Re-use Scheme donates unsellable products and materials (slightly damaged tins of paint, off-cuts of timber, broken tiles etc.) for re-use by local schools.

Co-op Local Community Fund

Co-op’s Local Community Fund allows members to give to a local cause that matters to them. Your school can apply for the next round of funding. Grants considered are up to £2,500.

Esmee Fairburn Foundation

Esmee Fairburn Foundation supports organisations on different themes including ‘Connecting people with Nature’. Grants can range from £5,000 to £1.5m and can cover projects or core costs, including staff salaries and overheads.

Greggs Foundation Environmental Grant- Currently unavailable. Future funding may be reinstated.

Greggs Foundation logo The Environmental Grants programme aims to improve people’s lives by improving the environment. An example of one of the community initiatives they will fund is ‘a growing project in a local primary school.’ The maximum amount they will award is £2,000.

DPD Eco Fund – currently unavailable. Future funding may be reinstated.

DPD logo

Schools and educational facilities across the UK are being encouraged to apply for funding for their green projects from DPD’s Eco Fund.

The Eco Fund for 2020 has £140,000 to allocate to worthy sustainable projects, with typical funding per project being approximately £1,500.

The Devon Educational Trust

The Devon Educational Trust are a small charity helping young people in Devon. Grants of up to £500 are available. Applications are welcomed from residents of Devon aged under 25. Voluntary organisations can also apply, in particular those helping vulnerable young people.

School Farmers Markets

The Soil Association have resources available to help schools run their own Farmers Markets. This gives members of the local community the opportunity to purchase local food, crafts and produce. Schools can make an estimated £300-£400 profit, while children can learn from the experience. Children can learn about food production while raising money for the school and helping the local community source local food.

RGB Community Fund – currently unavailable. Future funding may be reinstated.

RGB Building Supplies offer up to £1000 worth of building supplies to a project local to one of its depots. With branches across Devon, from Bideford to Holsworthy, Ilfracombe to Exmouth, there is likely to be one fairly close to your school.

Rotary Club

The Rotary Club often support local good causes with grants. Check out their website to find the nearest branch to apply to.

Lions Club

Lions Club International will sometimes support local environmental projects. Find your local club and write to them to ask for funding.

Round Table

Local Round Table groups are often very supportive of small projects in their communities. Check the website to find your nearest branch to write to ask for help.

Coastal Recycling Community Fund – currently unavailable. Future funding may be reinstated.

Coastal Recycling have over £300,000 every year to award to local community projects, close to their facilities. Check out the website to see if you qualify and find out how to apply.

Devon Gardens Trust

The Devon Gardens Trust is committed to investing in Education in Devon. To this end they will support schools with advice and mentoring as well as with their small grants scheme. They offer bursaries to students intending to take up horticulture as a career. The Trust’s Events programme includes lectures and workshops, open to members and people interested in the county’s considerable legacy of historic gardens and open spaces.

Tel.Group Go Green Scheme – currently unavailable. New date is to be decided.

The Go Green Scheme is an initiative founded by Tel Group which means the education sector can apply for £1000 funding towards an eco-project within their school.

Schools are currently focusing on improving their sustainability and environmental habits, not only for learning, but for the planet. Tel Group’s Go Green scheme opens up the education sector to additional funding towards their eco projects within the school. See the Tel.Group website for more information and to apply for up to £1000 for your school.

Magic Little Grants – Closed for now. Localgiving | Postcode Local Trust

Fundraising Ideas

Fancy a clothes swish, bring-and-buy sale or want to raise money for your school while reducing waste. There are lots of ideas that will promote sustainability within your school while raising money…

Teachers! Why not link these events to the curriculum by getting the kids involved in planning and organising them.

Textile Recycling

Did you know there are several companies that will pay for your unwanted clothes? Schools can use these to raise money.

Textiles can include clothes, curtains, bedding, shoes, bags, and soft toys. Companies will pay a set price per kilogram of textiles collected, however, it is often worth shopping around to find the best price.

Here are a some links to companies you could arrange to do your textile recycling with:

Each company will work in a slightly different way, but as an example if you were to choose Bag 2 School, here is how it works:

You promote your collection through posters and letters home.
Bag 2 School provides clothing bags for children to take home.
You arrange a collection day with Bag 2 School and get all clothes bags to be brought in on that day to avoid storage problems.
The driver will weigh and load the bags.
You will receive your payment within the week!

Perhaps if you have some clothes lying around after your Table Top or jumble sale/Give and Take/Uniform Swap, you could get them recycled and earn those extra £££’s.

School Uniform Swap Shop

Picture of plastic bag with some clothes folded inside

Children often outgrow school uniform before it wears out, so clothes in good condition can end up being thrown in the bin. In the South West over 80,000 school uniforms end up in the bin. What a waste!

Encourage students and parents to swap clothes or sell them secondhand to raise money for the school.

Some schools (such as Maynards School in Exeter) have a shop where secondhand uniform is handed back to the school and sold on to new pupils and the money raised goes back to the school. This could help create a culture where new uniform is the exception rather than the rule.

Honiton Community College asked parents to donate uniform, which it was then able to distribute to pupils who needed new sizes.

Torbay has a charity called Punks Against Poverty which has collected uniform to donate to people across the area.

The PTFA at Duchy Primary School run a regular school uniform swap, where old uniform can be donated and picked up for free. They run a stall at the school every couple of weeks – meaning you’re never far away from a new-to-you school uniform. This helps fight poverty and keeps uniform cycling around families, rather than sitting in drawers when it is the wrong size.

If your school tries one of these ideas – let us know!

Book and CD Recycling

There are a number of companies who will take your unwanted books, CDs, DVDs and games and exchange them for cash!

This can be a good way of raising money from stuff that is sitting around people’s houses, especially as many charity shops are now closed or not accepting donations due to Covid.

Table Top Sales

You can promote Table Top Sales (also called jumble sales or Bring-and-Buy sales) to your whole school community as a fantastic opportunity to clear out the house!

Stack of secondhand books for sale

Encourage parents to donate their books, records, bric-a-brac and good quality clothes.
Allow time for volunteers to sort donations into categories ready for the sale day.
On the day make sure all items can be seen clearly with price tags on show.

Give and Take

Similar to table top sales, but without the price tags. Not everyone has to give in order to take!

Organise for the donations “Drop-off” to start before the event officially opens and to end 1 hour before the event finishes.
Categorise donations as they arrive, in the same way you would for a table top sale. (See the ‘Give and Take Category Labels’ download).
Consider asking for £1 entry or donations on the door.
2 hours is usually long enough for the “taking” part of the event.
Ask some of your volunteers to run a coffee and cake stand alongside to increase the amount raised.

How to run a Give Take Event for Schools.pdf

Give and Take Category Labels.doc

Give and Take Letter Home Template.doc

Give and Take Template Poster.doc

Give and Take Template Risk Assessment.doc

Swishing

A swish is a clothes swap where good quality clothes are swapped. There is usually an entrance fee, maybe including a free drink, and you can then swap a certain number of items. See this guide on Recycle Devon.

Encourage parents to bring good quality clothes.
Advertise it well and include your wider community to get a good range of styles and clothes for everyone.
Make it a social event with refreshments and background music.
On the day make sure all items can be seen clearly on rails ready to browse.

Other easy ways to raise funds

Ink Cartridges

Instead of throwing away used ink cartridges, why not sign up to have them recycled? Companies such as Empties Please have school recycling schemes already set up!

Mobile Phone Recycling

With new phones coming out every year there is an increasing need for phone recycling. Educate your school about the need to recycle batteries and mobile phones with our KS2 workshop about batteries and our KS3 workshop about the important elements in mobile phones and their impact on the environment.

Some companies (e.g. Music magpie / Gecko Mobile / Recycle Kings) will collect up devices and give you back some money. Every phone/CD and DVD has a value, so get collecting now!

Promoting

Don’t forget to promote your event, this will make a massive difference to the amount you raise.

Parents need plenty of time to plan clearing out the house and organise getting the stuff they have found into school.

Send letters home, use posters around the school, get the kids excited and talking about it!

Perhaps encourage the children by awarding the class who bring in the most donations a non-school uniform day.

Disclaimer: There are many companies that can provide these services, those mentioned above are a good starting point. Devon County Council does not accept any responsibility for the service provided.