Our Space Award
The Our Space Award offers groups grants of up to £5,000 to improve local green and open spaces
Applications to the Our Space Award are now closed. The deadline was Monday 9 December 2024 at midday.
What is the Our Space Award?
The Our Space Award (OSA) aims to help Londoners clean and green the city through active community engagement and participation, increasing a sense of community ownership over shared spaces. It supports Londoners of all ages and backgrounds, communities and schools in greening their neighbourhoods, making them inclusive places for all to enjoy. It does this by enabling more groups to access funding for projects. The activities funded by the OSA will be designed to also make a significant contribution to a number of wider social and environmental objectives, notably:
- Tree planting (each project can plant at least one tree);
- Climate resilience and adaptations to climate change;
- Improvements to water quality and drainage through planting and reducing hard surfaces;
- Ecological and biodiversity benefits;
- Climate education alongside physical improvements;
- Improving air quality; and
- Reducing health inequalities and social isolation
Ways in which you may be able to achieve the above objectives are:
- New tree planting
- Native planting
- Pollinator planting
- Drought tolerant planting
- Rewilding areas
- Nest boxes, rock piles, bug hotels, etc
- Water habitat creation or improvement
- Planting aimed at improving water quality
- Rainwater harvesting
- Creation of composting area, use of organic compost, organic mulching, use of food waste etc
- Volunteer and community engagement
- Increasing access to nature
The OSA supports projects throughout Greater London. It will play its part by harnessing existing and new volunteer efforts in improving all types of open space, whilst engendering a true sense of civic pride amongst participants and encouraging a greater sense of ownership felt by communities over their shared spaces. The OSA also offers local people the opportunity to shape the ongoing maintenance and improvement of their areas by working with partners from the public, private and voluntary sectors and stimulates mutual learning at all levels.
Help us grow the Our Space Award
Who do we help?
The OSA supports projects across all types of open space – in parks, housing estates, town centres, woodlands, and school grounds. We prioritise applications where OSA funding forms a substantial part of the project and will truly enable the project to happen.
The OSA funds groups/organisations based in Greater London that want to clean and green the capital through active community engagement to increase a sense of ownership over London’s shared spaces. The fund aims to reach groups who do not necessarily have a track record of fundraising and where the OSA would make up a substantial part of the project’s budget.
Non-constituted groups are able to apply – These are community groups of three or more people who meet regularly, are not formally arranged or constituted, but do put energy and enthusiasm into their projects. You will need to provide reference details in your application, someone who can vouch for your work in the local community. This could be a local councillor, local authority employee, school or a local charity, for example. Please get in touch with Groundwork London if you are unsure who to ask. You will also need to have a bank account with at least two signatories. You may need to partner with an organisation that can hold the grant money for you, if you are successful, as grant money cannot be paid into a personal bank account.
For further information, please see our prospectus and examples of supported work below.
What support is available?
We offer two tiers of grants going from £500 up to £5,000:
- Small grants of £500 to £2,000;
- Standard grants of £2,000 to £5,000.
Any eligible group/organisation can apply for Small and Standard Grants.
How to apply
Applications to the Our Space Award are now closed.
2018-2023 Projects
Our Space Award has so far distributed c.£552,000 supporting 143 projects across Greater London to improve community spaces.
In the first round of Our Space Award 2018 we awarded 28 projects c.£62,000. In the second round of 2018, we awarded 17 projects c.£43,000.
In 2019 we awarded 20 projects c.66,000.
In 2021 we awarded 27 projects, c.£159,000.
In 2022 we awarded 35 projects c.£152,000.
In 2023 we awarded 16 projects c.£70,000.
Funders
The 2024/25 Our Space Award is funded, and supported, by private funders and partners.
Previous supporters
Contact
If you would like to stay up to date with the Our Space Award, then sign up for the Our Space Award Updates mailing list here.
If you have any questions about applying or about the grant scheme, we’re here to help. Please get in touch with Tom Lowe: ourspaceaward@groundwork.org.uk | 020 7239 1390 or 07549 020277.
Case studies
