£250,000 for north London community groups to run waste prevention projects

With the prevention of waste a crucial way to help combat the cost-of-living crisis as well as the Climate Emergency, North London Waste Authority (NLWA) is significantly boosting its annual grants funding pot for community groups to run projects.

For 2022-23, funding for NLWA’s North London Community Fund doubled to £120,000. In 2023-24, the total funding leaps to £250,000.

Community groups across seven north London boroughs – Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest – can apply for up to £15,000 per waste prevention project, for instance, teaching residents electronic repair skills or how to repurpose unwanted textiles.

Of the money available, £120,000 will be offered to new projects, and a further £130,000 will be used to scale up existing community projects or run them over a longer period of time.

Councillor Clyde Loakes, Chair of NLWA, said: “After listening to residents and groups at various external stakeholder meetings, we made the decision to increase funding to provide more opportunities for more local groups.

“NLWA’s mission is to encourage a reduction in waste across north London and drive the transition to a circular economy. We want to support more great waste prevention projects across north London with a much larger budget to help them expand their reach and impact.

“For example, last year we funded projects focused on training young people to repair waste electrical items and participants went on to run information sessions in their local communities and schools. A project in Hackney funded the creation of garden furniture from scrap wood and practical skills training for participants. Another group invested their funding in growing an exciting community hub, providing a go-to local resource for reuse and skills development."

Previously known as the Waste Prevention Community Fund, NLWA has been giving grants since 2017 to support waste prevention initiatives in the north London area.

Now renamed the ‘North London Community Fund’, it will continue to support community-based (not-for-profit) organisations by providing them with access to funding to develop new approaches to tackle waste prevention. Here are a few examples of previous fund recipients:

• Hackney City Farm was awarded funding for their ‘Get Loose’ shop to trial a zero-waste deposit/collection scheme and install a digital screen to inform visitors about waste reduction tips and events.
• Octopus Community Network was awarded funding to deliver a series of workshops that challenged textile consumption and to raise awareness about textile waste while giving items a second life.
• Groundwork London was awarded a grant to help people learn new DIY and cooking skills, which helped reduce waste and save money.

To be eligible for funding, an organisation must be non-profit. The project must take place in at least one of the seven north London boroughs and help north London residents reduce their waste. Organisations that have previously submitted funding requests and/or have received support from NLWA’s North London Community Fund may also apply for funding.

Applications to the NLWA’s North London Community Fund are open from 1 November until 16 December 2022.

The video below shows an example of a project which received funding from us: