In order to run their landfill site, Landfill Operators (LO) pay a tax to the Inland Revenue.
The Landfill Operator is then able to use the Landfill Communities Fund to fund environmental projects for organisations registered as an Environmental Body (EB) with Entrust. These projects must be within a defined area of the Landfill Operator’s landfill site (in a straight line).
A Friends group or Forum can apply to become an Environmental Body but there is a fee involved (£100 as a once only payment). Before applying to become an EB (and paying the fee) make sure that the proposed project will fit the required criteria.
Once registered, the grant application forms are not difficult to complete, but Entrust are very strict that the applicant complies with the time scales and the rules of the Landfill Operator.
Each Landfill Operator has different rules and ways of working. Some may ask for a small percentage of the total to be paid by the group – not match funding but on a similar basis. Again, the Landfill Operators deal with this according to their own rules, but with some, it is possible to offset this percentage by quoting hours worked by the group, or donations ‘in kind’.
The grant money is not paid in a lump sum up front which the group can draw on to pay bills and this can cause problems when contractors want paying. One forum got over this by asking the Local Authority to put in the order to the contractor and the Local Authority would then receive the invoice. The Local Authority paid the contractor and then invoiced the group once the grant money was available to them.
This group also asked their Local Authority to clear it with their finance department and Customs & Excise, that they (the Local Authority) could claim back the VAT on the work or materials as they were paying the invoice. The group then received an invoice from the Council for the work/materials less the VAT, which was a considerable saving, giving them more money to spend on the project.
When a Forum becomes an Environmental Body, it means individual Friends groups do not have to make the application or deal with all the return forms because the Forum can do it for them.
A bonus for the Forum is that they can claim up to 5% (maximum) of the total applied for by the group as an administrative fee, which goes into the Forum’s bank account.
It should be made clear that this percentage does not come out of the grant applied for by the group. The percentage is added to the amount applied for. For example, the group wants £10,000; the Forum will apply for £10,500. If successful, the group gets £10,000 and the Forum gets £500.
Unfortunately it is getting harder to get these awards now because as recycling increases, landfill decreases – but it is worth trying.
Landfill operators to contact: (please note these operators may not cover all the North West, but there are others you can find if you search on Landfill Operators):
Biffaward www.biffa-award.org
Veolia www.veoliatrust.org
Wren www.wren.org.uk
Sita www.sitatrust.org.uk
If you decide your group wants to become an Environmental Body then contact ENTRUST. www.entrust.org.uk
Please note that all figures quoted were right at the time of printing but are subject to change.
Reproduced with permission of North West Parks Friends Forum
