Grants of up to £1,000 available to help businesses become greener
Are you a business that wants to save money and become greener? Then apply for a new travel grant from Hackney Council.
Pots of up to £1,000 are now available to help local workplaces create environmentally-friendly travel methods and incentives for staff and visitors.
Cycle maintenance, shower facilities, staff rewards and electric charging points are just some of the ways the money from the ZEN Travel Grant can be used.
Applications are welcome from all businesses in the City fringe area, however they need to first sign-up to the Zero Emissions Network (ZEN) – a pioneering eco project which sees experts from Hackney, Islington and Towers Hamlets councils help businesses save money, reduce pollutants and improve staff health through cash-saving deals and free advice and services.
To apply for the grant, workplaces have to commit to a travel plan that will be developed in conjunction with the ZEN team.
The applications will be assessed on an individual basis - here’s how to apply:
1. ZEN registration – First sign-up your business to ZEN to mark your commitment to improving air quality. Your local ZEN contact will then be in touch to explain the services on offer and to complete a business site survey.
2. Travel survey – A minimum of 30 per cent of your staff need to respond to a short online survey to help ZEN experts develop a bespoke travel plan, addressing the key issues highlighted in the questionnaire. The deadline for receiving staff travel data is Friday 19 December.
3. Apply for grant -The grant application should be based on the actions set out in the travel plan and should provide quotes for the works/actions recommended. The ZEN team will be on-hand to provide help to complete the grant application if required.
4. Monitoring – We will carry out a snapshot survey 12 months after the grant has been released. We will require evidence that the grant was spent on the proposed initiative. This survey is compulsory and allows us to assess the success of the initiative.
Businesses have nothing to lose and everything to gain by applying for this grant. As part of the application process you will be given free, expert advice on how to improve your business’s green credentials, thereby saving money and improving staff health.
Should your application prove successful, you will then be given money to spend on improving your workplace not only for yourself, staff and customers, but for the benefit of the wider community as well.
Terms and Conditions:
Applications and level of funding will be assessed based on the below criteria:
1. The reasons why the workplace has applied for the grant
a. Initiatives to reduce emissions by reducing reliance on car
b. potential shift towards more sustainable transport
c. supporting and encouraging staff to use sustainable transport.
2. The completeness of the application i.e. is further information needed to be able to assess the application.
3. The size of the organisation.
4. Whether the workplace received a ZEN Sustainable Transport Grant previously.
5. Whether the workplace are providing match funding.
6. Additional measures the workplace is undertaking to support sustainable travel.