A major new countywide initiative to help communities protect threatened green spaces and wildlife sites is being launched following a £1 million grant from The Summerfield Charitable Trust.
The initiative, developed jointly by the Gloucestershire Nature + Climate Fund (GNCF) and Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership (GLNP), will give communities access to funding and expert support when opportunities arise to bring land into community ownership or secure it for nature.
It is designed to tackle a problem already being experienced across Gloucestershire. When a valued field, woodland or wildlife site comes onto the market, communities can find themselves competing against private buyers and developers. They may have only weeks to organise, raise money, obtain professional advice and make an offer.
Recent examples of communities taking action to protect land include Daisybank, Lott Meadow and Southcourt Green in Cheltenham, and Rodborough Fields, Juniper Hill Field and the Heavens Valley in Stroud.
The new initiative will provide several ways of helping communities act quickly. These will include repayable ‘patient’ grants which give groups time to fundraise before returning the money to the fund, allowing it to be used again. Emergency grants will be available in some cases, particularly where communities in more disadvantaged areas need additional help.
Capacity grants will help groups establish themselves and access professional support, while ecological, organisational and legal advice will be available through experts within Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership and beyond
David Owen, Chair of Trustees, The Summerfield Charitable Trust, commented:
“The Summerfield Charitable Trust is really pleased to support Gloucestershire Nature and Climate Fund with this innovative initiative, which has the potential to create a lasting legacy for nature, communities and future generations across Gloucestershire. What particularly impressed us was the ambition to empower local people to take ownership of the green spaces and wildlife sites they care about most, while helping to deliver landscape-scale nature recovery and improving access to nature for communities that need it most. Through this investment, we hope to enable communities to act quickly when opportunities arise, protect important natural assets, and create benefits for wildlife, health and wellbeing that will endure for many years to come”
Protecting the right land in the right places
As well as helping individual communities save the places that matter to them, the initiative has been designed to contribute to nature recovery across Gloucestershire.
Wildlife habitats have become increasingly small and fragmented, making it harder for plant and animal populations to recover. Gloucestershire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy, published in February 2026, identifies where protecting, improving and connecting habitats can have the greatest impact. This will be one of the main criteria used when deciding which projects the new fund should support.
The initiative will also address unequal access to nature.
Data including the Index of Multiple Deprivation and Tree Equity Index will be used to identify communities where investment could have the greatest social, health and wellbeing impact. The Tree Equity Index shows that areas of Gloucestershire with below-average access to trees and woods have a strong correlation with areas of social need.
Groups in more disadvantaged communities may receive additional funding and practical help where they need more support to establish an organisation, fundraise or obtain specialist advice.
Diane Hill OBE DL, Chair of the Gloucestershire Nature + Climate Fund, said:
“We are enormously grateful to The Summerfield Charitable Trust for making this possible. We know there are people across Gloucestershire who desperately want to protect woodland or wildlife site in their community, but when that land comes up for sale, they simply don’t have the time or resources to compete with a private buyer.
“This funding means we can help them when it really matters. We can provide money to act quickly, bring in the legal and ecological expertise they need.
“We need an initiative like this now more than ever. Once an important green space is lost, it can be lost for good. This gives us a practical way to protect more of those places, connect habitats across the county and make sure communities that currently have the least access to nature aren’t left behind.
“The real legacy will be land that it is still supporting wildlife and being enjoyed and cared for by local people many years from now.”
Helping communities act before it is too late
The initiative has been developed with organisations and community groups that have first-hand experience of trying to secure land.
The need was summed up during the development of the application by a lead member of Heavens Valley Community Benefit Society:
“There is a glaring need/gap in the market for some sort of new charity or body that could move at pace to support communities with funding support and expertise, templates, and signposting”.
The successful joint application to The Summerfield Charitable Trust was co-ordinated by Nicola Hillary, Manager of the Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership.
GLNP brings together more than 40 organisations working on nature recovery and the benefits of nature for people, health and the local economy. Representatives from the National Trust, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and University of Gloucestershire were among those involved in developing the proposal.
Experience from community land purchases including Daisybank, Rodborough Fields and the Heavens Valley has also helped shape how the initiative will work.
A lasting legacy for Gloucestershire
The £1 million investment has been structured to have an impact beyond its initial use. Money returned through repayable grants and lease payments will go back into the fund, allowing it to support further communities and land purchases. Other income and fundraising will also be used to extend its life.
The long-term aim is to create a permanent legacy of land protected for nature and people’s wellbeing, while recycling as much of the original investment as possible to help other communities across Gloucestershire.