Natural England

Access to Nature will only pay for part of the total cost of your project; you will have to fund the remainder yourself – this is known as match funding.

Depending on how much you ask for, your contribution will be as cash or ‘in-kind’. The table below sets out how much your contribution will be.

Total project cost £	Maximum grant from us (either the percentage or the maximum grant – whichever is the lesser)		Minimum contribution from you
	Percentage	Maximum grant
£55,556 to £125,000	Up to 90%	£100,000	At least 10% of total project cost in cash or in-kind (with no mandatory cash requirement)
Over £125,000 up to £715,000	Up to 80%	£500,000	At least 10% of total project cost in cash The balance can be in cash or in-kind
Over £715,000	Up to 70%		At least 10% of total cost in cash The balance can be in cash or in-kind

Examples

1. ‘Up to 90% or maximum grant of £100,000’ example

   • If the total cost of the project is £70,000, you can ask for a maximum grant of £63,000 (this figure is 90% of £70,000). You must provide £7,000 (i.e. 10% of £70,000) as an in-kind contribution, or as cash if you prefer.
   • If the total cost of the project is £125,000, you can ask for a maximum grant of £100,000 (the lesser of £112,500 which is 90% of the total project cost and £100,000 which is the maximum grant). You must provide the balance i.e. £25,000 as an in-kind contribution or as cash if you prefer.

2. ‘Up to 80% or maximum grant of £500,000’ example

   • If the total cost of the project is £200,000, you can ask for a maximum grant of £160,000 (80%). You must provide a total of £40,000 of which a minimum of £20,000 (i.e. 10%) must be in cash. The rest can be an in-kind contribution or cash.
   • If the total cost of the project is £650,000, you can ask for a maximum grant of £500,000 (the lesser of £520,000 which is 80% of the total project cost and £500,000 which is the maximum grant). You must provide the balance i.e. £150,000 of which at least £65,000 (i.e. 10% of total project cost) must be in cash and the balance i.e. £85,000 can be an in-kind contribution or cash.

3. ‘Up to 70%’ example

   • If the total cost of the project is £800,000, you can ask for a maximum grant of £560,000 (70%). You must provide a total of £240,000, of which a minimum of £80,000 (i.e. 10%) must be in cash. The rest can be an in-kind contribution.

We have developed a Match Funding Wizard [140 kB] *, which calculates the amount of case and in-kind match funding you will require.

Match funding can come from a wide variety of sources and include both cash and in-kind contributions from your organisation and/or other sources. Match funding includes items such as non-Exchequer grant funding, donations and in-kind work. In-kind contributions are those where items and services are given freely, with no money changing hands. Contributions may take various forms, such as volunteer days, or gifts of land, materials, equipment and facilities.

Find out more about How to apply.

* Note:
Excel spreadsheet - If you don't already have the software to view this Microsoft document format, free software is available:
- For PCs running Microsoft Windows: Excel Viewer
- OpenOffice.org, a free office suite for Windows, Mac, Linux and other operating systems.