The grant can only be used for capital spend. In 2024/25, the grant can only be used on any of the themes below or any combination of them:
- Transforms a grey space to a green space, or that
- Builds or improves a pond, or that
- Creates or improves a grassland
The eligible items must come under four categories below, three of which have expenditure limits.
Biodiversity enhancementsYou can spend up to £10,000 or your full grant on improving biodiversity on your site: plants including shrubs and trees, seeds, plant containers, planting material such as compost or topsoil, gravel, ponds, rain gardens, water holders and irrigation equipment. You can spend part of your grant on other equipment, but you must spend at least part of the grant on biodiversity enhancements.
There are limits on other types of expenditure:
Fieldwork resourcesYou can spend up to £2,000 on fieldwork resources that will help you carry out your project and enable outdoor learning, e.g. tablets to map your site and measure and record biodiversity. This can be equipment such as tablets, humidity meters, light meters, camera traps and stationery. This portion of the grant can also fund protective covers and insurance for devices.
Gardening resourcesYou can spend up to £2,000 in total on gardening tools, equipment storage, wet weather gear and gloves.
Specialist supportYou can use up to 50% of the grant amount on specialist support such as contractors or biodiversity experts. For example, you might pay a biodiversity expert to assess your site using the grey to green guidance and tell you what habitat enhancements will be most effective in improving a grey area of your school grounds. Alternatively, you might pay a contractor to dig up a paved area and plant trees. The specialist must contribute directly to your capital project. The grant can’t be used to pay for workshops or training.
See Is this item eligible for grant expenditure? for more guidance.