GrantRadar

Bath & West Community Energy Fund (administered by Quartet Community Foundation)

Bath & West Community Energy Fund

Grants of £500-£5,000 from the Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) Fund, administered by Quartet Community Foundation, for community projects that reduce carbon emissions and/or tackle fuel poverty in Bath and the surrounding area. Carbon reduction can include local food, sustainable transport, waste reduction and behaviour change, and fuel poverty projects are particularly welcome as they receive fewer applications. It is targeted at small organisations with charitable aims, which need not be energy or environmental groups. This 13th round opened 25 September 2026 and closes 1pm on 29 October 2026; in 2025, 25% of applications succeeded.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
£500 – £5,000
Closes in
11 days left
29 October
Effort
Moderate
full application with documents

Who can apply

  • Groups or projects working in Bath and the surrounding area: the Fund's area of benefit covers Bath and North East Somerset, the parts of Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire that border B&NES, and the area of Somerset close to BWCE's Crewkerne solar array (TA18 7NX)
  • Particularly targeted at small organisations with charitable aims; no organisation size limit
  • Eligible: constituted voluntary or community groups with at least three unrelated members on the management committee; registered charities; not-for-profit companies including CICs
  • Charities and companies need at least three trustees/directors, the majority unrelated and not at the same address
  • CICs must not be limited by shares, most directors must be unpaid, must have no director with significant control (or at least three sharing equal rights), should generate some trading income, and must have a clear charitable purpose
  • Independent groups within schools such as PTAs can apply for projects outside core provision
  • Applicants need a bank account in the organisation's name with two unrelated signatories (or can use another eligible charity's account under an agreement, or have another charity apply on their behalf)
  • Projects near existing BWCE sites are particularly welcome

What it funds

  • Projects that reduce carbon emissions and/or address fuel poverty in Bath and the surrounding area
  • Fuel poverty projects must include measures that reduce energy use directly or indirectly, e.g.:
  • Draught-proofing
  • Pipe lagging
  • Energy-efficient products (low energy bulbs, radiator foil, slow cookers, air fryers)
  • Staff training such as the NEA Level 3 Award in Energy Awareness
  • Household energy advice programmes
  • Warm spaces in winter / cool spaces in summer
  • Carbon reduction projects include:
  • Raising awareness of climate change and encouraging behaviour change
  • Healthy affordable local food
  • Resource efficiency and waste avoidance
  • Reducing transport emissions (e.g. enabling cycling)
  • Helping people switch from oil and gas heating (especially rural oil) to renewables
  • Preliminary assessments, energy efficiency reviews or audits to support later bids (e.g. for neighbourhood CIL) can be funded

Capital costs (equipment) and revenue costs (staffing, external consultants, running costs, rent, heating, lighting, insurance) are eligible; projects may include education, vocational training and volunteer training.

Projects should be completed within 6-15 months of award, by end of March 2027 at the latest.

What it will not fund

  • Costs incurred before a grant can be awarded
  • Individuals
  • Activities or services that government or other public bodies have a statutory responsibility to provide
  • Groups or activities supporting a political party
  • Activities intended to influence people's religious choices
  • Activities primarily supporting animal welfare
  • Medical research, equipment or treatment
  • Arts or sports projects that don't meet the programme's priorities
  • Activities that raise funds for other organisations
  • Capital costs of energy efficiency improvements eligible for a government or regional grant or subsidy (applicant must evidence ineligibility)
  • Biomass heating or biofuels
  • Gas- or oil-fired boilers
  • Core educational activities of schools (school physical measures only if the project includes energy-efficiency education)
  • For-profit companies distributing profits to shareholders

How to apply

  1. Read the BWCE Fund Guidelines 2026 and Quartet's eligibility criteria and FAQs
  2. Optionally contact Quartet to discuss your project first
  3. Complete the online application form on Quartet's website (link visible only while the programme is open) before 1pm on Thursday 29 October 2026, uploading the supporting documents
  4. Quartet checks the application and may contact you with questions, then recommends it to the BWCE Fund trustees' grant panel

Building energy projects should give a clear outline of energy use and likely savings, and at least two supplier quotations.

The round is subject to approval by BWCE members at their AGM.

Have ready

  • Constitution, governing document or set of rules
  • Contact details of at least 3 members of your management committee/board
  • Most recent annual accounts or financial records showing balance of funds, income and expenditure
  • Up-to-date safeguarding policy relevant to your work
  • Contact details of a referee who knows your work professionally but is not directly involved
  • Organisation bank account details
  • At least two supplier quotations where proposing work

Do not resend documents provided to Quartet in the past six months unless they have changed.

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