Offaly County Council in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is excited to launch the Community Climate Action Fund. The fund aims to support small and large, rural and urban communities to take climate action at a local level.
It will support direct engagement with communities to both promote and assist in the scale up of community climate action projects.
The overall objective of the Programme is to support and empower communities, in partnership with their LA, to shape and build low carbon, sustainable communities in a coherent way to contribute to national climate and energy targets.
The Community Climate Action Program will see €60M from the Climate Action Fund invested in community climate action projects over the next 3 years.
The first round of funding is for €24 million and €444,000 has been allocated to Offaly County Council.
There are 3 grant sizes that can be applied for:
| Project Scale | Project Value |
| Small Scale Projects | Up to €20,000 |
| Medium Scale Projects | €21,000 to €50,000 |
| Large Scale Projects | €51,000 to €100,000 |
Under 5 themes:
Who can apply / eligibility criteria: Community organisations meeting the requirements listed below are eligible to apply to partner with Offaly County Council to implement a project under this programme, they:
- Must be a not-for-profit organisation.
- Must be located in the operational area of Offaly County Council
- Must be registered with the PPN or connected with other collectives such as the Wheel, Tidy Towns and/or a community group with Articles of Association or a constitution, which hold an AGM and for which approved minutes are available.
Furthermore:
- The project applied for must be in line with the aim/purpose of the funding as set out in the section on projects eligible for funding in the framework document. Click here to view.
- Only one application per organisation may be submitted for consideration – projects proposed could cut across several of the themes and be bundled together as part of a single application.
Who cannot apply:
- Private individuals
- Commercial undertakings (including sole traders)
- National community and environmental organisations.
Mandatory requirements for projects:
- Projects must be eligible for funding from the Climate Action Fund as set out in the Eligibility section in the Framework document. Click here to view.
- Projects must comply with all statutory requirements in relation to planning, building regulations, Health and Safety, and Fire Codes, if applicable.
- Prospective partners are required to self-certify that they do not have the funding available to undertake the work without support, or alternatively that the support will enable them to undertake more work which they otherwise would not be able to afford.
- Prospective partners must be able to demonstrate their ability to carry out the proposed works.
Strand 1: Building Low Carbon Communities – Application Form
Please click here to apply for the Community Climate Action Grant (Strand 1).
Irish Versions of the forms are available on request by emailing climate@offalycoco.ie
Strand 1a – Shared Island Community Climate Action Grants
€3 million Euro’s of Funding from the Government’s Shared Island Fund is available for cross-border or all-island projects, which have a clear North/South basis and demonstrate the impact of the project in contributing to climate and energy targets on the island of Ireland and the sustainability objectives in the Shared Island chapter of the revised National Development Plan 2021-30.
Proposals must include at least one partner in Northern Ireland, and at least 50% of awarded funding will be for project delivery in Northern Ireland.
Strand 1a applications must comprise a cross-border project, working with counterparts in Northern Ireland and in partnership with the lead partner’s local authority.
Community and voluntary groups and organisations in County Offaly can engage in a partnership project as the lead partner with Offaly County Council to seek funding under Strand 1a: Shared Island Community Climate Action Grants.
The grant sizes and 5 Project themes are the same as Strand 1.
- Community & Energy
- Travel
- Food & Waste
- Shopping & Recycling
- Local Climate and Environmental Action
Who can apply/eligibility criteria
Groups/organisations who are involved in Climate Action initiatives on a not-for-profit basis at community level.
Organisations meeting the requirements listed below are eligible to act as the lead partner under strand 1a:
- Must be not for profit.
- Must be located within the operational area of Offaly County Council.
- Must be registered with a PPN or connected with other collectives such as the Wheel or Tidy Towns or a community group with Articles of Association or a Constitution, which hold an AGM, and for which approved minutes are available.
- The project applied for must be in line with the aim/purpose of the funding.
Additionally:
- Strand 1a applications must be made by a lead organisation in this jurisdiction, with at least one partner organisation in Northern Ireland.
- Strand 1a applications will be submitted to the LA in this jurisdiction in which the lead organisation is based.
- Strand 1a applications must comprise a cross-border project in partnership with an organisation in Northern Ireland.
- Given the scope for all-island projects, national community and environmental organisations are eligible to apply under strand 1a.
- Partner organisations must be a not-for-profit organisation, a Local Authority, or a community or environmental organisation, registered in Northern Ireland.
The following are not eligible to act as the lead organisation or the Northern Ireland Partner:
- Private individuals
- Commercial undertakings (including sole traders).
Furthermore:
- The project applied for must be in line with the aim/purpose of the funding as set out in the Framework document.
- Only one application per lead organisation may be submitted for consideration – projects proposed could cut across several of the themes and be bundled together as part of a single application.
Strand 1a: – Shared Island Community Climate Action – Application Form
Please click here to apply for the Community Climate Action Grant (Strand 1a).
Irish Versions of the forms are available on request by emailing climate@offalycoco.ie
Useful Links and Information
Please click here for FAQ’s regarding the programme.
Please click here for information on Planning your Project & Applying for Funding.
Please click here to view the Framework document for the Community Climate Action Programme.
Please click here to view the Introduction to State Aid document.
Please click here to view the Toolkit – GAA Green Club Programme.