National Garden Scheme – Community Gardens Grants

Grants are available for community groups in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to create a garden or similar project with horticultural focus for the benefit of their local community.

The Community Gardens Grants scheme was set up in 2011 by the National Garden Scheme and managed in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society. From 2019 the Award became wholly managed by the National Garden Scheme. In November 2024, the Julia Rausing Trust announce a £1.5 million grant to the National Garden Scheme for the Community Garden Grants programme.

The Award was set up in memory of Elspeth Thompson, a garden writer and journalist and supporter of the National Garden Scheme who died in 2010.

The funding is for the creation of a garden or a similar project (such as an allotment) with horticultural focus for the benefit of the local community.

The project should aim to bring a community together by creating a space people can share, by the acquisition and sharing of gardening knowledge and skills and by inspiring a love of gardening.

The funding can be used for a number of things, including but not limited to:

Plants and containers
Materials for flower or vegetable beds and other hard landscaping
Greenhouses, polytunnels and sheds
Seating
Hand tools and certain garden power tools (eg strimmers)
Materials for providing refreshment.

Applications for 2026 Community Garden Grants will open on 15 September 2025 and close at 12 noon on 20 October 2025. The online application form will be available during this time.

For further information on how to obtain this fund, please contact the following:

Vince Hagan
Grant Scheme Administrator
National Garden Scheme
East Wing Hatchlands Park
East Clandon
Guildford Surrey
GU4 7RT
Tel: 01483 213905
Email: vince.hagan@ngs.org.uk