The Tree Council’s grant offer programme for tree establishment in the 2025/26 winter planting season is drawing to a close, with hundreds of applications for trees and funding being reviewed.
Early in the summer, The Tree Council launched a brand new Defra backed £1m Trees Outside Woodland Fund (TOW), offering grants of up to £40,000 for local authorities and larger charities to grow trees on land that is publicly accessible, or of benefit to the public.
The new fund joined the long established Branching Out Fund, offering grants of £250 to £2,500; the Network Rail Community Planting Fund, which offers between £2,500 to £10,000 in funding; the partnership with SPEN, offering grants of £2,500 to £10,000 for tree establishment projects in central and southern Scotland; and the National Highways programme, which invited applications from projects seeking to establish between 2,500 and 50,000 trees, in England only.
“Each of our funds is oversubscribed, revealing communities’ huge enthusiasm and dedication to tree establishment, but leaving us with very difficult decisions to make.”
Sam Turner, The Tree Council Operations Lead, said: “We’ve been blown away by the volume of applications we have received from communities throughout the UK, right across our grants offering,
“Each of our funds is oversubscribed, revealing communities’ huge enthusiasm and dedication to tree establishment, but leaving us with very difficult decisions to make as, with our partners, we process and determine where funds and trees should be allocated.”
The team estimates each individual grant offer received twice – and sometimes four times – the volume of applications that could be supported with the resources available for 2025/26.
The first offer letters for successful applicants to the TOW Fund are being sent out now, and will continue until all the funding has been distributed.
Decisions for the Network Rail, SPEN and Branching Out funds are currently being processed, with announcements expected from the end of September.
Applications for trees through The Tree Council’s partnership with National Highways are still being accepted for the 2025/26 planting season.
All grant options are accompanied by expert advice and support from The Tree Council, from application, to planting, to ensuring the trees are able to establish successfully.
To register your future interest in the TOW Fund, please visit: https://www.cognitoforms.com/TheTreeCouncil/TreesOutsideWoodlandFundRegisterYourInterest
