• £1m award from the National Lottery Heritage Fund 
• Nature Towns and Cities funding will help communities deliver projects  
• Provides support and training for groups to access further funding
• £15m invested in 40 towns and cities in 19 urban partnerships 

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has been awarded £1 million to help communities design and develop grass roots projects to restore the natural environment. 

The grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Nature Towns and Cities initiative was the second largest awarded nationally and will unlock long-term investment in nature across the city region. 

Mayor Steve Rotheram meets children who helped create a wildflower meadow trail of 10 sites from Everton in North Liverpool, through to Litherland in Sefton. The project was supported by the Mayor’s Community Environment Fund in the summer of 2021.

It is aimed at scaling up a pipeline of impactful projects – building on the recent Local Nature Recovery Strategy consultation and the Mayor’s Community Environment Fund, which has already supported 120 local projects including community gardens, bikes for veterans, beekeeping and food-growing initiatives. 

Developed in partnership with Nature Connected, the city region’s Local Nature Partnership, the new investment will be used to harness the collective power of people, organisations and nature networks to help restore vital ecosystems, including woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands.  

Deputy Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Cllr Mike Wharton said:    

“The Liverpool City Region is a hugely diverse landscape with communities, organisations and nature networks who are passionate about creating greener, healthier neighbourhoods for us to live, work and do business.    

“We are delighted to have been awarded this important funding which will help us restore vital eco systems, connect more people with nature and upskill our communities.   

“When we engaged with our community as part of the recent consultation on our Local Nature Recovery Strategy, people said what they wanted most was the education, skills and help with funding applications so that they could develop their projects and make them investment ready.   

“This award responds directly to what they said they need and will massively help us to grow the wide and varied network of nature and conservation groups and hopefully lead to many positive interventions.” 

The first of its kind, this new programme announced by Natural England, National Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund aims to help at least 100 places across the UK to become greener, healthier, happier places for people to live and work.   

Kickstarting the programme, 40 towns and cities across 19 partnerships will receive grants from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

In the North West, Blackpool, Liverpool City Region, Salford and Manchester received a total of £2.6m to help ensure people living in their areas can enjoy nature and green spaces close to home. 

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:

“I am delighted to announce an investment of £15 million which will help 40 towns and cities across the UK better plan their urban nature recovery, connecting people and communities to their natural environment in the places they live. We have invested over £1bn in regenerating over 900 urban parks and green spaces over the last 30 years, helping nature thrive in towns everywhere – and this exciting initiative, working with partners right across the UK,  will continue to build on this investment and give millions of people better access to nature close to home.” 

The Combined Authority initiative aims to reshape the region’s relationship with nature, empower local communities to take an active role in conservation and ensure the positive impacts for nature, health and the economy will be felt for generations.  

Under-served groups will be prioritised in leadership roles, training, and volunteer efforts, providing them with the opportunity to develop long-term skills in ecological care and climate resilience.  

The aim is to create a sustainable model of community-led environmental stewardship, and a long-term legacy for nature and people in the Liverpool City Region.