Zero Carbon Guildford is thrilled to announce that we’ve been awarded funding through The National Lottery Community Fund!
Over the past 4 years, our dedicated volunteers - ordinary Guildford and Surrey residents - have spearheaded efforts to build a strong community dedicated to restoring Surrey’s nature, reducing waste and pollution, and tackling climate change.
In a poll of over 1100 people across the county, 68% of Surrey residents stated that taking action on the environment and climate change is ‘extremely important’ or ‘very important’.* Through collaboration and community engagement, we've championed common sense solutions and initiatives that empower this vast majority of residents who want to address climate change to take action, whilst also supporting the local economy and improving public health, with the aim of ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.
We’re ecstatic that this enormous effort by our local community has been rewarded with a grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK. This award marks a pivotal moment in our progress, with a £350,000 grant spread across 4 years empowering us to not only amplify our current achievements, but also embark on ambitious new projects and activities.
The funds will be used to help us build long term security within the impactful projects we deliver through our award-winning hub, ZERO. This includes water testing with partners Water Rangers and the River Wey Trust, with 200 trained residents sampling 180 sites for river pollution and e-Coli. Our local energy schemes have upskilled 70 Surrey residents to deliver over 300 home energy visits, helping their neighbours and community to cut energy bills and reduce the risk of damp and mould. Meanwhile, projects within ZERO provide solutions to reduce waste and save money, whilst providing co-benefits such as relieving isolation through our Community Fridge project or preventing clutter and reducing consumption through the Library of Things.
Importantly, we will be able to put a portion of this funding toward core operating costs, like utilities and volunteer expenses, which all voluntary organisations know are very hard to come by, and why The National Lottery plays such an important role in supporting critical voluntary work across the country.
We work with a range of fantastic partners across a number of fields, from Surrey Wildlife Trust and the University of Surrey’s Institute for Sustainability, to Guildford Environmental Forum’s Rosamund Community Garden and schools across Surrey. We take pride in the diversity of our volunteers, bringing together people with different perspectives and backgrounds. We aim to increase our efforts in this area by working with organisations who can help us to remove the barriers people face to volunteering, and create a welcoming environment in which people can engage with climate and environmental action that so many Surrey residents see as vital for our county.
A huge thanks to all at The National Lottery Community Fund for this opportunity, and an even bigger thanks to the effort of countless volunteers and residents who have helped ZCG grow and develop into an organisation trusted to deliver on our ambitions and secure funding for our long term future. To find out more about Zero Carbon Guildford’s activities and events, or to volunteer, visit www.zerocarbonguildford.org, and please share the great news via social media...
*Research conducted by Temple Group, Dec 2022.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK.
Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over
half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
About The National Lottery Community Fund
We are the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK – community is at the heart of
our purpose, vision and name.
We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and
environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the
UK.
We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to
distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.
As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is
focused on four key missions, supporting communities to:
1. Come together
2. Be environmentally sustainable
3. Help children and young people thrive
4. Enable people to live healthier lives.
Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we distribute around £500 million a year
through 10,000+ grants and plan to invest over £4bn of funding into communities by 2030.
We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide
charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the
UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £47 billion has been raised and more than
670,000 individual grants have been made across the UK - the equivalent of around 240
National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district.