Grants of between £2,500 and £10,000 are available for a range of organisations and individual landowners in England, Scotland and Wales for community tree planting projects that directly benefit people, communities and wildlife.
The Tree Council and Network Rail are again working in partnership to provide another round of its annual Community Tree Planting Fund in 2026/27. Over the previous 4 years, the partnership has funded the planting of over 350,000 trees in more than 100 communities across the UK.
Grants of between £2,500 and £10,000 are available across England, Scotland and Wales for “impactful community tree planting projects” that will directly benefit people, communities and wildlife.
Applications will be assessed against the following key criteria:
- Clear community benefit and involvement, such as volunteering, education, or wellbeing initiatives.
- Improvements in biodiversity at the planting site.
- Clear understanding of site suitability for tree planting, based on site-specific considerations.
- Thoughtful tree selection following “right tree, right place” principles, supported by a detailed planting plan.
- Use of UK-sourced and grown trees, preferably native species from local or community nurseries and/or those that are Plant Healthy certified.
- Comprehensive establishment and aftercare plan, including a commitment to maintain the trees and site for a minimum of 3 years.
- Willingness to provide content for external communications purposes, and a
- Commitment to participate in monitoring and evaluation activities post planting.
The Fund also has the following desirable project criteria:
- Close proximity to the Network Rail network (lines or stations).
- Contribution to climate resilience (eg riparian planting, sustainable drainage in urban areas).
- Part of a wider initiative or partnership (eg environmental, social).
- Youth involvement, including skills training or enterprise elements.
- Collaboration with a Tree Warden Network or other local community groups.
- Use of sustainable, recyclable, non-polluting, and
- Low impact resources and materials for tree protection.
Grants are principally available for:
- Urban street trees, Miyawaki forests, agroforestry, orchards, hedgerows, riparian and parklands.
- Trees: bare root, native trees of an appropriate size for your project. They prefer to fund younger trees which will establish better although funding is available for trees up to 'standard' size (8-10 cm girth).
- Hedging: UK-sourced and grown, bare-root whips (saplings) and cell grown (root trainer) stock for hedging projects (40-120cm height).
- Hedgerow trees: trees planted in hedgerows that are allowed to develop to full-size, and
- Orchards: fruit trees on semi-vigorous, vigorous and very vigorous rootstocks.
Further information, guidance, and how to apply can be found on the Tree Council website.
The deadline for applications is midnight on Sunday 19 July 2026 Any grant awarded must be spent by Monday 1 March 2027.