Recreation

Recreation

This theme supports improvements that will benefit people in their free time, such as accessible play areas and outdoor gyms, nature trails and woodland walks, boardwalks and wheeled sporting ramps.

Priority is given to projects that demonstrate a wider community benefit and need. We expect your facilities to be used by many people each week, benefiting different ages and demographics.   

What we can fund

Examples include:

• Fixed play equipment or outdoor gym facilities and associated safety features
• Fixed ramps for various wheeled sporting activities (inside or outside)
• Plants and seed as part of a woodland walk or nature trail
• Community room, toilet and kitchen improvements in a clubhouse

Who can apply

Your organisation must be fully constituted, charitable or not-for-profit, and have no share capital.

We cannot accept applications from local authorities, councils, hospices, hospitals, day-care centres, activity centres, rehabilitation units, residential care facilities, allotments, nurseries, food banks, schools or colleges. We are also unable to fund projects within these grounds.

Sporting clubhouses

We can consider internal renovation projects in sporting clubhouses under the Recreation theme, but only where the space clearly serves the wider community outside of sporting activity, in a similar way to a village hall or community centre, attracting many groups regularly each week.

We cannot fund changing rooms, showers, toilets, sports kits, repairs to pitches, outdoor or indoor courts, greens or nets, external lighting, drainage, or areas that are not publicly available as community space.

Check if your project is eligible

Your project must meet all of the criteria below:

• You are applying for between £10,000 and £75,000
• Your total project costs or its phases must be no more than £200,000 including VAT (standalone elements costing less than £200,000 are excluded)
• Your project site is close enough to an eligible Biffa operation (5 miles) or Biffa landfill site (10 miles)
• Your project is ALSO within 10 miles of a licensed landfill site (click here to check additional landfill eligibility with the schemes regulator)
• You have a Third Party Contributor who can provide 10% of the amount you are applying for
• Your project fits under one funding theme only
• You have secured at least 75% of any shortfall funding, if Biffa Award is not fully funding the project
• The site is open to the public for at least 104 days each year
• The work has not already started or been completed
• The site will be open and fully accessible once the funded work is complete

If your organisation does not own the site, you must have a signed lease with at least 10 years remaining. We cannot accept any other forms of agreement, including but not limited to, draft agreements, letters of intent or consent, heads of terms, subleases or underleases.

If you need planning permission, this must be approved before you submit an Expression of Interest.

Previous grants

You cannot apply for another grant at the same site within one year of receiving your final payment from a previous Biffa Award grant.

We can accept up to two Full Applications per organisation each financial year. Only one application from an organisation will be considered at each Board meeting.

Use the Eligibility Checker

Enter your project site postcode into the Eligibility Checker below and select Search. The first results box will show whether your site is Eligible or Not eligible for funding.

If your site is eligible, make a note of the address shown in the results. You will need these when completing your Expression of Interest.

Before applying, please download and read the detailed Guidance Notes, as they may have changed since you last applied, and there are some elements that we are unable to fund. 

Submit an Expression of Interest

If your site is eligible and you have read the Guidance Notes, please Register to submit an Expression of Interest through the online grants portal. 

Once registered, you can access your application through the ‘Live Projects’ tab shown at the top of this page.

We no longer accept grant applications from Scotland and Wales as devolved nations.