Big Green Fund back for Centenary year

The Big Green Fund has been created to help tackle fly-tipping, help promote sustainable and environmentally friendly neighbourhoods, and unite residents and communities.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has today (June 10) proudly announced ‘The Big Green Fund’ is back for 2025. 

 

The Big Green Fund has been created to help tackle fly-tipping, help promote sustainable and environmentally friendly neighbourhoods, and unite residents and communities.

 

Up to £45,000 is available for residents and community groups to apply for to help clear and rejuvenate local brownfield/abandoned plots of land, unadopted alleyways, an area in a local park or small grass areas.

 

The fund will cover three successful entries in the north of the city, the south of the city, and in the central area of the city, with a maximum fund allocation of £15,000 per site. 

The ‘Big Green Fund’ first launched in 2023, and saw six successful entries be awarded up to £15,000 in funding.
Sites included:
 

• Middleport Garden
• Sneyd Green Community Garden
• City Farm
• Portland Street Community Garden
• Blurton Community Garden
• PPE4

The positive impact can already be felt across the community. A spokesperson from Middleport Garden described the new sensory garden as a thriving community space, offering residents a peaceful retreat with in walking distance. The 2023 funding also helped to ensure the outdoor area of the Sneyd Green Community Hub was accessible to allow more members to enjoy being outdoors.
The funding also enabled a safe and accessible walk-way to a community garden for residents in Meir.

 

Cllr Amjid Wazir, cabinet member for environment and enforcement said, “We want residents to feel proud of where they live and have something to nurture and grow with. This is a unique opportunity and we are providing the tools to give residents the chance to take ownership of where they live.

 

“We have spent the last two years working to reduce the level of illegal dumping in the city, clearing 1267 skips worth of waste from January to April this year. We know some areas are still a magnet for illegal dumping and it can be rife in high-density areas, and part of the problem is the unadopted spaces we have dotted across the city. Supporting residents to come together, help clean up the areas they live in, and promote sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions to the problem is one of the many initiatives we will be launching over the coming weeks and months. “

 

“If you are part of a resident association or community group, or you and your neighbours want to work together and have unadopted land in your area, we welcome entries/applications from you.”

“By supporting residents to help them improve their local area, it will also reduce clean-up costs, fly-tipping and waste, and provide clean, green spaces for health and wellbeing.”

 

 

To find out more about the eligibility criteria and application process visit – www.stoke.gov.uk/thebiggreen

 

The entry form will also detail what options are available when thinking about what to do with unadopted spaces, from a community garden in an unadopted alleyway to a flower meadow.

 

The closing date for entries is Sunday 20 July at midnight.