Eligible organisations have the opportunity from this month to apply for larger amounts of funding under the HS2 Funds programme.
Changes have been made to Community and Environment Fund (CEF) and Business and Local Economy Fund (BLEF) to accommodate the cost of living and inflationary increases, enabling applicants to apply for higher amounts to benefit their local communities.
From Thursday 11 July this year, the maximum overall award limit for medium sized CEF Local and BLEF project funding will be increased from £75,000 to £100,000.
The maximum award limit for small grants awarded through CEF Local funding will be expanded from £10,000 to £20,000.
In addition, the partnership funding requirements will be removed for Local Authorities in recognition of the changes to the funding landscape for these applicants. This means that statutory bodies are no longer required to include any partnership funding to be eligible to apply for medium sized CEF grants of up to £100,000. This already applies to medium sized BLEF grants.
Partnership funding towards projects will continue to be encouraged at application, bringing added value to awarded projects and the programme.
“The offer from CEF and BLEF has been updated to be in line with the latest needs of applicants and their communities whilst honouring the intentions of the programme when it was launched in 2017. As a team we are committed to continuous learning and ensuring that the programme is accessible to potential applicants along the line of route. I hope that the increased award levels and related programme changes will be positive news for new applicants from this month.”
Cathy Elliott, Independent Chair of the HS2 Funds
The HS2 Funds programme changes are supported by the CEF and BLEF Independent Panel, HS2 Ltd and the Department of Transport, working with Groundwork UK.
For more detailed information, please see the programme guidance.
Since 2017, the HS2 Funds has funded 285 projects to the tune of over £16.09m.
