Waste Not Somerset Fund

We can only consider your group for a grant from this funding programme, if:

• your project/initiative is within the Somerset Council area
• it meets the Fund’s aims
• it’s new work, or for new elements or scaling up of existing work, or for replicating successful initiatives across Somerset
• it’s for project costs (which can include staff time) and/or capital items such as equipment and
• your group meets our minimum standards.

Minimum standards cover things like:

• the types of groups we can give a grant to and how we expect them to be run
• how we expect those groups to manage their finances
• how those groups keep people safe.

All our minimum standards are on our FAQ page where you can also find lots of information about applying for funding.

You can also use our eligibility checker which will help you understand if you can apply for a grant from us.

PLEASE NOTE:

Applicants will need to:

• track, quantify and report on how much waste the project will prevent from going to disposal (by weight and/or number of items)
• record and report on the number of unique contacts with Somerset residents during the grant period
• give anticipated figures for these in the grant application
• provide a project budget breakdown.

We also want to understand how your local community is involved in your project/initiative and whether there’s any broader social impact. 

For example, a project that intercepts items going to disposal and refurbishes them could have:

• community involvement – local residents donating items instead of taking them to their local recycling centre and volunteers who refurbish the items
• social impact – some volunteers are isolated and the project offers social connections with others. The refurbished items are sold at low cost to residents experiencing financial hardship.

We’ll also consider what outside advice/support you’ve received for developing your new project or growing/replicating ongoing work. Community Action Groups (CAG) Somerset can help – so please contact them if you haven’t already (find out more in ‘Where to get support’).

This Fund can’t cover:

• core costs, such as rent and utilities
• staff on-costs (the costs of staff beyond wages – like National Insurance and pension costs)
• buying new items to provide to people, such as end-of-line or surplus goods
• subscriptions to organisations redistributing items that didn’t originate in Somerset, or buying these items
• projects where waste items diverted from disposal are used for activities (for example creating art from rubbish).

You can apply from Monday 11 August 2025.

You must submit your application by 5pm on Monday 29 September 2025.

We’ll share the outcome in early November 2025.

Sadly, we can’t provide funding to every group that applies to us.

We have £30,000 of funding from SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK and Somerset Council which means we can award between 3 and 6 grants. We’re usually able to support around 2 out of every 3 applications we receive.

We’re more likely to give you some money if your group:

• most closely matches the aims of this grant programme (see What can we use a grant for?)
• has a social purpose as well as community involvement/engagement
• reduces or diverts a significant amount of waste from disposal or stops waste from being created
• has a long-term impact on waste reduction.

Your application will be assessed by 1 of our team. They’ll read through what you’ve written, look at your supporting documents and check places like the Charity Commission and your website. We may contact you if we have any questions.

Usually, we’ll then make our recommendation and a panel will make the final decision. The panel will include representatives from SUEZ, Somerset Council and CAG Somerset.

When the Fund opens on 11 August, you’ll be able to fill in our online application by clicking on ‘Apply Now’.

You’ll be asked to register your email. We’ll then send you a link to the online application form. You can save your progress by clicking ‘save as draft’ at the end of the form. The link in the email allows you to return to the form. At the end of the form you can attach supporting documents.

You need to click ‘Submit’ at the bottom of the form to send your completed application to us.

CAG Somerset provides free support to a thriving network of local Community Action Groups. Each group is working to improve environmental sustainability and resilience locally. Group activities include reuse, repair, waste reduction, sharing, surplus food, composting, tackling climate change or encouraging sustainable behaviours within communities as part of their wider ambitions.

CAG’s free support includes: 

• advice, support and mentoring with group set-up and growth from their friendly team
• free training courses and resources
• peer-to-peer skills-sharing and learning
• support with basic governance
• operational support (like risk assessment support)
• access to apply for grant funding
• insurance support
• fundraising support
• publicity through CAG Somerset channels
• help measuring your group’s impact.

To find out more visit: Become a CAG member | CAG Somerset.