Living Spaces provides grants to help people improve open spaces in their neighbourhood and create valuable places for the whole community to enjoy. It can help you create and improve a huge range of spaces such as play areas, local parks, community gardens, village greens, nature areas, courts and squares and city farms.
As long as your space is open to the public and near to where people live you could benefit from a grant of up to £25,000. If you have a good idea but need a little help to put your plan together, a network of trained Living Spaces Enablers are on hand to assess your application and help turn your ideas into reality.

Funding is currently fully allocated but for latest announcements visit www.living-spaces.org.uk or telephone 0845 600 3190

GreenSpace (formerly Urban Parks Forum) is a not-for-profit organisation set up to help those committed to the planning, design, management and use of public parks and open spaces. GreenSpace is a membership organisation dedicated to promoting the importance of public spaces whilst increasing awareness of related issues.It promotes the regeneration of public parks and open spaces in towns and cities throughout the UK and support the investment being made in these important social and cultural assets. It organises a number of events, produces publications and good practice information, and its website www.green-space.org.uk/Links/funding.htm has invaluable information on how to find the right fund for your project or enterprise, and how to make an application for funding.

For more general information visit www.green-space.org.uk or telephone 0118 946 9060

The Green Flag Award scheme represents the national standard for parks and green spaces across England and Wales. The scheme recognises and rewards the best green spaces in the country with a ‘Green Flag’. The Green Pennant Award scheme recognises high quality green spaces in England and Wales that are managed by voluntary and community groups. The scheme is managed by The Civic Trust on behalf of CABE Space and it has the backing in England from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, English Heritage, The Countryside Agency, English Nature, Calor; and in Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales.

For details of Green Flag parks near you, or for how to enter your site for a Flag or Pennant visit www.greenflagaward.org.uk or phone 0151 709 1969

Organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Britain in Bloom has grown into the largest horticultural campaign in Europe. Every year, hundreds of communities are involved, from tiny rural villages to the largest cities, all bringing a great deal of horticultural skill and huge enthusiasm to one common aim: to regenerate local
environments, both locally and nationally, by the imaginative planting of trees and shrubs, flowers and landscaping and by dealing with local environmental issues, such as litter, graffiti and vandalism.

For advice on how to enter the Britain in Bloom competition and for more details of the campaign visit www.rhs.org.uk/britaininbloom/index.asp or for access to the wide range of services and advice from the RHS visit www.rhs.org.uk or telephone 020 7834 4333

The People's Places award scheme is run by BTCV, and is open to community groups in rural and urban areas across England. Awards are targeted at communities living in areas of deprivation and at disadvantaged groups. It offers groups a chance to make a difference to their community by creating or improving a "people's place". This could be an area of land that could be turned into a community garden or park or a building that the group wants to turn into an environmental community resource. Awards of £3,000 to £10,000 are available and guidance and eligibility notes are provided on the website.

For more information visit www.btcv.org/ppawards/intro.html or telephone the People’s Places Award Unit on 01491 821621.