(cc: Welcome To Our Woods)

Here at The National Lottery Community Fund, we are supporting communities to be environmentally sustainable. Recently, we refreshed our People and Places funding programme to be in more in line with our strategy, It Starts With Community.  

Whilst we’re asking applicants to show us how their projects align with at least one of our four missions; all applicants will also need to show a commitment to the environment, including projects that aren’t environmentally focused. You can read more about the refresh here. 

We’re proud to offer essential support to environmental and community projects across Wales. The commitment to fostering a greener future is evident through the initiatives that aim to protect and enhance our natural surroundings. 

One such project is Lee Gardens Pool in Penrhiwceiber, south Wales. This initiative has revitalised a once-neglected community space into a thriving hub of environmental education and recreation. Through the restoration of the pool, the community has a booming community space that is packed with families over the summer months. 

The project received a £551,824.89 People and Places grant. The grant over five years has begun funding project delivery costs, overheads and the construction of a community space and café. The money was also used to provide much needed improvements to the swimming pool itself. More can be learned about our People and Places programme here.  

(cc: Lee Gardens)

Diane Locke, Trustee at Lee Gardens Pool, said: “We have quite a long history and before the pool, it was a garden. The garden was built in 1935, but they’d been trying to get the land since 1905, so it took 30 years to get the garden.” 

“The women of the village had a bit of a revolt; they said they didn’t want a garden where just a few old men would come and sit in the day. They wanted something for the children, so a pool was opened in 1957 where it was then handed over to the then Glamorgan County Council where it was run up until 2013. 

“We do garden, we have one of our volunteers who leads that as he’s run his own allotment for years. We do plant for biodiversity, and it makes the place so much more interesting. It looks nicer, and that’s a big part of this for a lot of people. 

“When we made plans to put our building here, we took a lot of time to speak to people with regard to air source heat pumps and solar panels, both of which are on this building, so that works really well for us.” 

Another exemplary project supported by The National Lottery Community Fund is Welcome To Our Woods, a community-led initiative based in Treherbert. This project showcases the power of community action, transforming local woodlands into vibrant, sustainable spaces for everyone to enjoy. By promoting biodiversity, sustainable forestry, and community engagement, Welcome To Our Woods is preserving the natural beauty of the area while fostering a sense of ownership and pride among residents. 

The Create Your Space grant of £633,324 is being used over a seven-year period to fund salaries, project delivery, management costs and capital works. 

Create Your Space enables communities to improve their local natural environment. We wanted communities to decide how to conserve and/or improve their local natural environment in a way that makes a huge difference to their local communities.  

“The top of the Rhondda area is quite a hot spot for arson, so we had this area that regularly the fire brigade would be up a couple times a month. Cars were being dumped in the woods, and all kinds of issues were going on in the woodlands,” said Ian Thomas, Managing Director of Welcome to Our Woods. 

(Chloe-Jayne Shellard and Ian Thomas, cc: The National Lottery Community Fund)

“Decisions were made to engage with the community by effectively building them a fire pit and saying we recognise that you want to have fires, and this is where you could have it. So, our inception came about as a youth engagement project at the start.”  

One incredible sustainable asset the project has adopted is a micro hydroelectric plant built into a local water source. Despite being a long-haul project that took numerous years to complete, the new micro hydro produces sustainable energy that reduces bills and provides energy for ensuring their events stay up and running. 

(cc: The National Lottery Community Fund)

“One of the key drivers at that point was to build a micro hydro. We received a feasibility study back in 2010 suggesting that seven small hydroelectric plants could be built on top of the valley here and we took one of them on way back then,” Ian added. 

“We didn’t realise how long it was going to take, so it took about 7 years to build and get all the correct permissions.  

“So, it’s been a long journey, and we’re in that journey still towards a more sustainable future. A more sustainable future where people are linked to this landscape and know that it is part of this community.”  

John Rose, Wales Director of The National Lottery Community Fund, emphasises the importance of these initiatives: “We are proud to support projects that not only protect our environment but also bring communities together. Thanks to National Lottery players, we are able to fund these grassroots initiatives that are helping to create a sustainable future for all.” 

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year (2023/24) The National Lottery Community Fund awarded over half a billion pounds (£686.3 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK, supporting over 13,700 projects to turn their great ideas into reality.  

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk