Competitions, offers and funding

Here you will find opportunities to win exclusive food growing resources and training for your school, as well as offers and funding opportunities. Look out for offers and enter our competitions to win!

Funding opportunities

See a list of funding opportunities with forthcoming application deadlines at the bottom of this page.

Current competitions and offers

Competition winners

Offers for schools

*Please note this page was assembled and last reviewed September 2018 and some offers may now have passed.

 

Local School Nature Grants Programme

Food Growing Schools: London's lead partner Garden Organic are delighted to be a supplier in the Local School Nature Grants Scheme, helping schools branch out into nature

What do birdboxes, bee hotels, den making kits and nature experts all have in common? They are all available free to schools as part of Learning through Landscapes' new Local School Nature Grants Programme, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery: http://www.ltl.org.uk/naturegrants/

The suppliers for this grants scheme are Garden Organic, Glasgow Wood Recycling, Outdoor People, RSPB, MindStretchers and Touchwood.

Learning through Landscapes is a UK charity dedicated to enhancing outdoor learning and play for children. The grants provide an assortment of nature equipment and training up to the value of £1000. The packages are customisable, enabling schools to choose from a menu of items which best suit their learners and their setting. All schools in England, Scotland and Wales are welcome to apply.

Give it a Grow

Register on the Garden Organic’s Give it a Grow pledge page. Explore the resources!

Garden Organic are encouraging everyone to 'Give it a grow' and grow something tasty you can eat.

Taking part is easy. If you've not grown your own before then make a pledge and choose to grow one of our recommended vegetables. If you have grown before but want to help others then first make a pledge, then recruit a new grower, download the growing cards and help them make their first attempt a success.

The Growing Cards:

The simple and easy-to-use instruction cards are great for those new to growing. Garden Organic has selected 10 of the most popular fruit and vegetables which are simple to grow, delicious to eat, and will grow happily and healthily in a pot.

We would love to see your pledge in action – so if you want to upload and tag us in any photos, then please go ahead!

Your pledge will go towards the GROWATHON target of over 50,000 young growers in London, supporting the Food Growing Schools: London project! So what are you waiting for? Loads of great Garden Organic resources are online for FREE!

Subscribe now to GIAG!

Ridan Composting System - 10% discount

Ridan Composting are offering a 10% discount to all ‘Food Growing Schools' for their composting system.

The best compost is home-made and free, school food waste, all of it, not just vegetables and fruit, but also cooked food, meat, bread, pasta, eggs and cheese can all be converted into great compost at school by using a simple machine, the ‘Ridan’. In as little as 12 weeks all of that food waste can be turned into compost, then spread on the garden where it will feed your next crop of delicious vegetables and fruit. Ridan food waste composting systems are designed to stand outside, they don’t use any power and they are a simple interactive way to recycle all school food waste on site. For full details please see the Ridan Composting Systems website or call 01598 751043.

Tesco Bags of Help Scheme

Grants of up to £5,000 available for schools and groups in England, Wales and Scotland
Tesco Bags of Help scheme now available all year round for outdoor projects

Tesco has announced that its Tesco Bags of Help grant scheme will now be permanently open for applications from schools and community groups across England, Wales and Scotland*.The scheme will fund projects that help physically improve outdoor spaces or encourage the use and long term sustainability of outdoor spaces. Projects that are likely to receive funding include developing a community garden, purchasing equipment for a community allotment, buying resources for encouraging biodiversity, providing forest school sessions, supporting horticultural training for young people, and setting up a Britain in Bloom group.Three projects will be selected each month and Tesco customers will be asked to vote for their favourite. Following the public vote, the project in first place will receive up to £5,000, second place up to £2,000 and third place up to £1,000.The Bags of Help scheme is funded by the 5p bag charge in Tesco stores and every year, over 7,000 projects will benefit from one of these fantastic grants. To find out more about the scheme and to see if you are eligible, head to the Tesco Bags of Help page.

*Unfortunately the scheme is not available for projects in Northern Ireland as carrier bag money is managed centrally by the Government.

Teach a Man to Fish - School Enterprise Challenge

A student-led, business start-up competition for schools around the world. The competition guides and supports teachers and students to set up real school businesses, creates socially responsible young entrepreneurs and helps students generate profit for their school, or social cause of their choice.

https://teachamantofish.org.uk/school-enterprise-challenge

RHS Photo of the Month competition

Have your photo displayed on the RHS Campaign for School Gardening website and win a prize! Every month RHS select a photo to become their Photo of the Month. Photos can be of your whole school garden, part of the garden, your latest crop, your gardening pupils - anything! The winner will be notified and sent some gardening goodies.

Deadline: Ongoing - competition takes place every month! https://schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk/Competitions

Donate money, items and skills to schools...

With the School Funding Network, donors can offer anything that might be of interest to a school, whether they are a local business offering free products or a native speaker offering language help. Check the major donor challenges section to find current school gardening offers and opportunities.

www.schoolsfundingnetwork.co.uk

 

Funding opportunities

Here are a few other funding opportunities that may be appropriate for your school garden project:

    Persimmon Community Champions 
    Deadline: ongoing on monthly basis
    Donate match funding up to £1000 for broad range of community based projects, including schools. Simple process to apply.

    The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation
    Deadline: Ongoing
    The aim of the trustees is to help raise the quality of life, particularly for those who are young, disadvantaged or elderly. Each year grants totalling about £2.5 million are made to a wide range of charities. Accepted status includes schools. The foundation expects to contribute up to £5000 for developed projects and expects to see clear plans for delivery.

    London Community Garden Grants (London)
    Deadline: Ongoing
    The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association (MPGA), has announced small grants available for maintaining and improving community gardens in London. The funding is for schools, hospitals, hospices, museums, voluntary organisations and community groups.

    Ernest Cook Trust
    Deadline: Ongoing
    Provides grants of between £100 and £4000 (in small grants category) for the education of young people about the environment and countryside.

    National Lottery Awards for All
    Deadline: Ongoing
    Offers funding from £300 to £10,000. Schools can apply if their project is bringing people together and building strong relationships, improving places and spaces that matter to communities, enabling people to fulfil their potential.

    The Veolia Environmental Trust 
    Not-for-profit organisations can apply for funding to support environmental or community-based projects that are located within five miles of a Veolia Environmental Services facility. The Trust will consider applications from constituted not-for-profit organisations with a bank account, that have a project that addresses at least one of the following categories:

    • Community buildings and rooms, including community centres, village halls, community spaces within religious buildings, and Scout or Girlguiding buildings.
    • Outdoor Spaces, including public parks, nature reserves, community gardens, footpaths, bridleways and cycle-paths.
    • Play and recreation, including play areas, skateparks, Multi Use Games Areas (MUGAs), sports grounds, pavilions and changing rooms.
    • Supporting Biodiversity, including the species related element of a BAP (national or local), the habitat related element of a BAP or HAP (national or local), and reintroduction programmes to a specific habitat.