Sustainable Legacy

The project must deliver a lasting legacy in its community, with outcomes and/or behaviours linked to tackling climate change that continue after the funding period.  

When planning this part of your project, it’s important to consider what kind of legacy you wish to create. What elements do you want to remain after the scope of the project had been delivered? This could be a physical legacy, a legacy of behavioural change, or both.

You must make clear what plans you will develop to ensure that the impact of the project lasts beyond the end of the funding period.

Things to think about

You may find it helpful to think of your project legacy in short and long-term timeframes, which together create a road map to developing a lasting project legacy. Whilst short-term legacy plans will generally be more structured, long-term legacy plans may be more broad or aspirational.

Remember, it may not be possible to continue project activities at the same level as when you have funding, so it’s important to consider what level of activity would be possible if no further funding is obtained.

Once you have defined your legacy ambitions, you will need to make clear how you will implement these plans and what you will need to help you do this. You may wish to create new resources, build relationships, develop skills, purchase capital or improve infrastructure. If you are purchasing high value capital items, it is essential that you develop a plan to cover the ongoing maintenance costs of these items. Some examples and helpful links are set out below:

Developing a network of volunteers

Involving volunteers early on, celebrating success and helping them to develop skills through training opportunities can help to build a network of support that will enable the project to continue after funding has ended.

Sharing resources and knowledge

Many projects will have experiences, resources and knowledge they would like to share or exchange, including guides, activities, workshop outlines and project tools. 

You can access some of these resources, produced by community organisations as part of previous CCF projects, via the Climate Challenge Fund Peer-Peer Online Resource Library.

Generating revenue

Renting out a space in a community owned building, selling produce from a community garden, or charging for services such as bike maintenance or energy efficient advice are great ways to continue a project without relying on future funding.

If your organisation has received multiple CCF grants, it’s particularly important to think about how you might become less reliant on funding. Seeking advice and training from organisations such as First Port or Social Enterprise Academy, can help you develop your ideas further and overcome the barriers to getting started.