Please note: Due to high demand, Community First will temporarily cease to accept any Expressions of Interest for Landfill Communities Funding, whilst we clear a large backlog of requests.  Apologies for any inconvenience caused.  We will post an update message here to notify when we are ready to receive further EOI’s.

Landfill Communities Fund

Community First manages and administrates the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) in Wiltshire and Swindon. The LCF offers capital funding for local community, heritage and environmental projects in specific areas where local landfill operators sites or depots are located.

The Government introduced a tax on landfill waste in 1996 to reduce waste and promote more environmentally sustainable methods of waste management. The LCF allows Landfill Operators (LOs) to contribute a portion of their landfill tax liability to community and environmental organisations to ‘offset’ some of the negative impacts of living in the vicinity of a landfill site. The LOs which contribute to the LCF grants scheme in Wiltshire and Swindon are The Hills Group and Crapper & Sons.

Applications to Hills range from £1,000 to £10,000. The maximum is £10,000 or 50% of the total project cost, whichever is the lower amount (up to the maximum of £10,000).

Crapper & Sons will consider any amount, but it is suggested that no more than £20,000 should be applied for at the current time. At the point of Expression of Interest, we will advise an applicant a suitable amount to apply for, depending on the funding pot. However, we would normally want to see evidence of other fundraising efforts, and appropriate contributions from an organisation’s free reserves.

All projects must meet basic Entrust criteria in order to be considered for funding from the LCF. All funded projects must be accessible to the general public for a minimum of 104 days per year. Applicants may be charities, community organisations, parish or town councils. Individuals and private companies are not normally eligible for LCF funding. General appeals for non-specific works are not eligible for Landfill Communities Fund grants.

Examples of successful projects include:

• Village Halls and community centres
• Public recreation grounds or play areas
• Community-run sports and leisure facilities
• Restoration of public access to facilities
• Cycle path and canal improvements
• Community farm and community garden improvements

How to Apply

Due to a large backlog in requests for LCF funding, Community First has temporarily paused new applications for the Landfill Communities Fund. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. 

For more information about Landfill Communities Fund Grants please contact the Grants Team by telephone 01380 732802 or email: grants@communityfirst.org.uk

Wiltshire Community Transport Development Fund

Funded by Wiltshire Council and managed by Community First, the Wiltshire Community Transport Development Fund has been created with the aim of supporting existing community and voluntary transport groups to provide a wider range of service, enable communities to trial new services which assist local people to better access local facilities and to support the establishment of wholly new community and voluntary transport groups

The maximum amount for this grant is £1,000. Particular priority will be given to enabling community and voluntary transport to provide services that cater for the general public, especially where they wholly or partially replace subsidised public transport services that are no longer financially sustainable.

For more information about the Wiltshire Community Transport Development fund, contact the Community Transport team at Community First on 01380 722475 or email transport@communityfirst.org.uk.