£110,000 grant unclaimed by West Northamptonshire schools

Eleven local schools have each been offered a £10,000 grant to improve biodiversity within their grounds. CA-WN has been asked to help the nominated schools make the most of this opportunity, which closes in March.

The money is being offered as part of the National Education Nature Parks initiative, a partnership between the Department for Education, the Natural History Museum, the Royal Horticultural Society and others. Any school can sign up to the Nature Parks programme to access a range of free resources and to map their school and its green spaces. The mapping data is used by the Natural History Museum for research into nature recovery.

In addition, schools in areas identified as having limited access to green space are able to apply for a grant of up to £10,000. How the school spends its cash is for them to decide but it would be a shame to miss out on this government-funded scheme to involve children and young people in taking positive action to address climate change and the biodiversity crisis. Eleven schools in our area are eligible for the grant and have not yet applied. Applications need to be in by 27 March and the money has to spent before 5 June (though this could include advance payment for planned work).

The great thing about the scheme is that up to half the grant can be spent on engaging professional contractors, whether to develop a design to make the most of the opportunity or to help with the manual labour of getting it done. Part of the cash can even be used to build a secure place for storing gardening tools.

In the first instance someone connected to each of the schools listed below needs to fill in a simple registration form and use an online map to draw a line round the school’s boundary. Form-filling help is readily available and once the funding has been approved even more help is there to deal with the technical aspects of improving the school’s biodiversity.

• Abbeyfield School
• Billing Brook Special School
• Castle Academy
• DSLV E-ACT Academy
• Gloucester Nursery School
• Lumbertubs Primary School
• New Horizons Academy 
• Northampton Academy
• Northampton International Academy
• The CE Academy
• Thorplands Primary School

Even if your school isn’t listed, a national charity called Learning through Landscapes has loads of advice on how make the most of outdoor spaces and help every child enjoy the benefits of learning and playing outdoors. They can even suggest other potential sources of funding.