Grants

The High Weald AONB Partnership currently runs two grant schemes – Sussex Lund and the Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme.

Both schemes support projects that preserve our beautiful landscape and meet national and local goals for climate, nature, people and place,

We are here to provide advice and support with developing projects and submitting a grant application.

If our grant schemes aren’t right for your project  we can also direct you to schemes run by others that may be suitable.

Quick look: Which programme is for me?

Sussex Lund

  • Supported by: Lund Trust, a charitable fund of High Weald residents Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin
  • Who: For farmers and land managers, community groups, schools, churches, parish councils, charities, and other not-for-profit organisations
  • Where: Covers the AONB and the hamlets, villages and towns on its fringes. Sites could include school grounds, woodlands, farmland, churchyards, local parks and recreation grounds, other green spaces
  • How much: Grants of £500 to £15k for projects that conserve and enhance the High Weald’s ecology, and help people connect and engage with the landscape
  • When: Grants awarded on an annual basis, decided by grant panel – next application window open from June – September 2023 with decisions in December.

Example projects – pond creation, Dark Skies celebration festival, hedge planting and laying, wildflower meadow creation, habitat management for rare species including dormice, ‘grey to green’ projects that develop community green spaces in urban areas.

Farming in Protected Landscapes

  • Supported by: Defra
  • Who: For High Weald farmers and land managers
  • Where: Applications only considered for projects located within the AONB boundary
  • What: Grants of up to £250,000 for projects that recover nature, tackle climate change, provide opportunities for people to discover the landscape and support sustainable farm businesses
  • When: Grants awarded on a rolling basis, decided by grant panel of local farmers and advisers (applications under £10k decided by AONB team). No deadline for applications, the programme runs until March 2025.

Example projects – supporting farmers with infrastructure for holistic planned grazing, collaborative deer management on a landscape scale, reinstatement of lost historic hedges, farmer mentoring and events programme.