Funding and Grants

Businesses - Grants & Funding Available

Marches Energy Grant (MEG)

About

The Marches Energy Grant (MEG) offers free advice, energy assessments and grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy measures to SMEs from all sectors in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. The funding is also available to support community buildings. As well as the grant funding, the project will also run related networking and webinar events for SMEs and other organisations.

The MEG project builds on the success of previous programmes such as the Marches Renewable Energy (MarRE) fund and the Business Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) grant scheme. It is intended that the MEG project complements the Cool Shropshire & Telford platform and Herefordshire’s 30 for 2030.

Assessments are for SMEs who wish to use their energy more efficiently, reducing costs and improving environmental credentials. Grants worth up to £20,000 are available for eligible businesses. Up to £100,000 in match funded grant is also available to eligible businesses implementing eligible energy efficiency measures through the pilot Business Energy Advice Service fund (this excludes renewable energy projects).

To be eligible for the programme you must be:

Operating within the Marches and have a Marches business address;
For 7+hrs site assessments, a minimum annual energy spend of £5,000 applies

And either:

• An organisation responsible for a community building

A small/medium size enterprise including limited businesses (SME);
A sole trader or partnership;
Trading over 12 months;
Below the Subsidy Control threshold of £315,000 over the previous 3 years, including the value of the support

Sectors not eligible for support include:

Primary agriculture
Schools
Public sector funded organisations (except parish or town councils)

For more details and to apply please visit Marches Energy Grant - Marches Growth Hub.

Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS)

The Pilot Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS) is offering 4000 free energy assessments to small businesses across the West Midlands, including Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton, as well as Worcestershire and the Marches, Warwickshire and Stoke and Staffordshire.

The assessments will provide recommendations for energy reduction, helping to reduce costs. Then after a business has undertaken an energy assessment then there will be an opportunity to apply for a grant for commercial and industrial SMEs to facilitate investment in energy efficiency measures.

For more details and to apply please visit Business Energy Advice Service is providing energy assessments to small businesses. (businessgrowthwestmidlands.org.uk).

National Lottery: Climate Action Fund - Our Shared Future

The Climate Action Fund is a commitment to help communities tackle climate change, supporting communities to be environmentally sustainable.

With Climate Action Fund – Our Shared Future the National Lottery want to involve more people in climate action. And they want to inspire bold and exciting change.

They’ll fund formal partnership projects that reach more people by either:

linking climate action to the everyday lives and interests of local communities. And inspiring them to take action.
influencing communities at a regional or national level. Like linking up groups across locations. Or a campaign that inspires change across one country, or the whole UK.

You do not have to be a climate or environment focused organisation to apply

They want to reach people who are new to climate action by funding other types of organisations too. And by using people’s everyday activities as a starting point for climate action.

They're particularly interested in projects that involve people, places and communities experiencing poverty, discrimination and disadvantage.

Area

UK-wide

Suitable for

Formal partnerships, working across sectors. Led by community and voluntary organisations or public sector organisations.

Funding size

The minimum you can ask for is £500,000. We expect to fund most projects for between £1 million and £1.5 million over 3 to 5 years. We may fund a small number of larger or longer projects. Contact us if you would like to discuss this. We aim to fund up to 25 projects.

Total available

£20 million

Application deadline

You’ll be able to apply until at least the end of 2024. We plan to close to applications in early 2025. We will announce the final deadline nearer the time.

For more details and to apply please visit Climate Action Fund - Our Shared Future | The National Lottery Community Fund (tnlcommunityfund.org.uk).

Residents - Grants & Funding Available

Telford and Wrekin 'better homes' loan

Do you want to improve your property and reduce your energy bills?

Telford and Wrekin Council have joined forces with Just Credit Union to launch affordable loans (from £300 to £8,000 depending on eligibility) to:

make your home more energy efficient
improve your property, keep your energy costs down
bring an empty property back into use.

We’re continuing to work with households identified as being in ‘fuel poverty’ to see if they are eligible for free funding through Government schemes but this loan can help households who fall outside that criteria.

Visit the Just Credit Union website to see if you are eligible and to find out more or download the better homes loan flyer.

The Severn Trent Community Fund is now open for applications to support community groups making a difference and to help with the recovery from Covid-19.

In 2019, Telford & Wrekin Council declared a climate emergency. It is now working, along with partners, to go carbon neutral by 2030