Nature Recovery Award - Grant Funding

The Nature Recovery Award is a fund available to support practical schemes that improve and connect habitats for wildlife in the Horsham District. Landowners and community groups can apply for funding for projects of any size up to a maximum of £5000. We also offer site visits to help support and develop your project ideas.

All applications will be considered against:

• Contribution to the creation and improvement of habitats
• Contribution to improving habitat connectivity
• Value for money (for example match-funding)
• Informed design and management of the works

Only projects that improve habitats for Wildlife are eligible for this award. Amenities for people, education projects or survey work, for example, fall outside its remit.

For some inspiration and to see what projects have already been successfully funded, please see our End of Year reports and our project blogs where you can read about some of the projects we have funded, including:

• Benlands Nature Reserve - improving woodland for wildlife 
• 'Bomb Pond' at Great Barn Farm - restoring an old pond
• Friends of Glebe Field - a community initiative to restore a field for wildlife 

A Tawny Owl captured moving into an owl nest box at Raylands Country Park, just one of a few wildlife-friendly initiatives funded at the site by the Nature Recovery Award.

How to Apply

We also offer site visits to help support and develop your project ideas. We strongly encourage a site visit, or at the very least a phone call with project staff, as this tends to lead to stronger proposals that are more likely to be funded.  If you wish to receive a site visit and in-person advice from project staff to help support your application and develop your project idea, please contact the project prior to your submission at [email protected] and we will happily arrange this for you.

Please complete the application form below and email it to [email protected]. Following submission, we will email confirming receipt of your application. If you require a physical copy of the application form, please contact the project so we can supply you with one. You may use the Guidelines Notes below for further support and information regarding your application.

Nature Recovery Award Application Form

Nature Recovery Award Application Guidance Notes

To fill out the form, download the file, and once it is open in Word, select 'enable editing'.

Applications will be judged by a professional panel and all applicants will be contacted whether successful or not. 

Funding Round Dates

The Nature Recovery Award is  currently OPEN for applications. The deadline for this funding round is on Friday 30th August. See below for future funding rounds running in the financial year 2024/25.

Round 16

Grant opens Monday 1^st July 2024, and closes Friday 30^th August 2024. 

Round 17

Grant opens Tuesday 1^st October 2024, and closes Friday 29^th November 2024.

Round 18

Grant opens Wednesday 1^st January 2025, and closes Friday 28^th February 2025.

If you have any questions or require further support throughout the application process, please email [email protected].

A newly created large pond at Great Barn Farm using Nature Recovery Award funding, ready to settle into the landscape with the addition of vegetation. You can read more about this project in our blog here.