YOUNG PEOPLE ACROSS SOUTH YORKSHIRE CAN APPLY FOR FUNDING TO BRING CLIMATE PROJECTS TO LIFE

Published 10 September 2026 at 2:00pm

Young people aged 15 to 24 across South Yorkshire can now apply for grants of between £700 and £4,500 to help turn their ideas for improving their local environment into reality.

The Youth Climate Action Fund is supporting young people to design and deliver projects that make a positive difference in their communities and help build a greener future for South Yorkshire.

South Yorkshire has been selected as one of 300 cities and regions around the world to take part in the latest phase of Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund. The programme provides funding and support to help municipalities mobilise young residents aged 15 to 24 to design and deliver solutions aligned with citywide priorities.

In South Yorkshire, this work will support young people to take action on climate and environmental issues while developing valuable skills, building confidence and gaining leadership experience.

Projects could range from improving a local green space or launching a new community initiative, to helping people develop green skills or preparing communities for the impacts of climate change.

Funding is available for projects focused on one or more of three themes:

• Nature and Green Spaces
• Green Skills and Careers
• Water and Climate Resilience

Young people must apply through or with a youth-led or youth-serving organisation, such as a school, college, university, youth group or community organisation. However, projects must be designed and led by young people themselves.

Applications are invited from Thursday 10 September until Friday 23 October, with successful projects announced in November. All projects should be completed no later than 15 April 2027. Applications will be administered by South Yorkshire Community Foundation.

Councillor Chris Read, Leader of Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire's Deputy Mayor, said: "Young people across South Yorkshire care deeply about the future of our communities and the local environment around them. Often, they have great ideas about how we can make our neighbourhoods greener, cleaner and better prepared for the challenges ahead.

"The Youth Climate Action Fund is about giving those ideas a chance to grow. Whether it's improving a local green space, helping people develop green skills or finding new ways to make communities more resilient, we want to help young people turn their ideas into action.

"Just as importantly, it gives young people the opportunity to build confidence, develop new skills and gain experience of leading projects that make a real difference where they live.

"South Yorkshire's future will be shaped by the next generation, and I'm looking forward to seeing the creativity, energy and leadership that young people bring to projects across our region."

“The Youth Climate Action Fund has helped hundreds of thousands of young people around the world come to see local government not as the problem—but as their partner—in solving the issue they care most about,” said Jaime Lavin, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Youth Climate Action Fund. “When mayors invite residents in and put real capacity behind their ideas, engagement stops being a promise and starts producing results—and rebuilds faith in what city hall can do. That is the model 98 municipalities helped prove and 300 more will now put to work—pushing even further.”

Full details, eligibility criteria and application information can be found on the South Yorkshire Community Foundation website.