Happy By Nature Fund 2026 / 2027 Application Form
WWF’s Happy By Nature Fund Round 2 is open for applications from all state-funded Infant, Junior and Primary Schools in the UK. Ten schools will receive a £12,000 grant during this round of the project. Most schools accepted for the Fund will be located in urban or suburban areas.
Confirmation required
Please read the Project Guide and the eligibility documentation.
Confirm you have read the Project Guide at
https://ltl.org.uk/project/happy-by-nature/
before proceeding with this application.
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Eligibility
Commitment to complete the project between September 2026 and Summer 2027
A current lack of quality green outdoor space
Strong senior leadership support for the project
Whole-school commitment to pupil involvement in the project
The Happy By Nature Fund is not open to schools in England that have received National Education Nature Park grant funding in 2023, 2024 or 2025, or schools currently in the process of accessing 2025 or 2026 National Education Nature Park funding.
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About your school
School name:
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School postcode:
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School address:
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Lead contact name:
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Lead contact email address:
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Lead contact phone number:
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SLT member name:
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SLT member email address:
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SLT member phone number:
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What is your current school roll number:
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How many pupils qualify for the pupil premium payment (England), pupil development grant (Wales), free school meals (NI) or for pupil equity funding (Scotland)? If not sure, please type "Don't know."
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How many pupils are on the SEN/ASN register?
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What is your school Local Education Authority?
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Type of school:
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Primary
Infant
Junior
Special School
Other
Location of School:
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Urban or suburban school with large outdoor space
Urban or suburban school with limited outdoor space
Village school with large outdoor space
Village school with limited outdoor space
Rural school with large outdoor space
Rural school with limited outdoor space
Approximately when was the main school building built?
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Use of your school grounds
Please attach 3 photos which reflect your current school grounds.
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To what extent does your school work with local community groups (for example, volunteer-led Allotment groups, Brownies or Scouts, or external community providers such as Forest Schools) specifically to make use of your school grounds?
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We have regular, ongoing relationships with community groups.
We have a community group we work with on occasion.
We sometimes hire out our site, including OUR SCHOOL GROUNDS specifically, to community groups.
We have a few ad hoc volunteers we work with in our school grounds.
We don't engage with community groups or voluntary groups in relation to our school grounds.
Is there scope for Happy By Nature's nature-based play training, or nature-rich school grounds transformation, to support you to work better with community groups? Think about running pre-school sessions, working with local youth charities, disseminating training locally, deepening a relationship with an existing outdoor group, or anything else which could be a result of working with us.
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Describe any staff roles within the school which have a focus on outdoor learning and play, or on the maintenance of outdoor spaces.
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Please outline any funding or support received since 2019 from projects or grants which have focussed on developing your outdoor learning provision. This might include things like OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning), Nextdoor Nature with The Wildlife Trust, or Ernest Cook Trust funding, as well as funding from Tesco Bags for Help, Aviva Community Fund or similar schemes.
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Tell us a bit more about your school grounds, by selecting the types of areas you have within your site:
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Areas of mown grass
Areas of unmown / meadow grass
Individual trees
Groups of trees
Woodland area
Sandpit or sand play
Water play
Mud kitchen
Tarmac / concrete play area
Multi-use games area (MUGA)
Fixed play equipment e.g. climbing frame
Any other areas
Please describe how the different areas are used:
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Describe how the weather (including frost, snow, rain, extreme heat) impacts the usage of your school grounds:
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Time spent outdoors
Think about how your school grounds are used. How much time do children spend outdoors during...
...before school?
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...lunchtime?
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...breaktime?
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...outdoor learning – lessons held outside, but excluding PE?
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...PE lessons?
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...Forest School / outdoor programmes?
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...other outdoor activities e.g. gardening club, outdoor assemblies or events?
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...after school?
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Is there a seasonal variation within this?
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Yes
No
Please describe the seasonal variation:
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Final information
Third party land owner agreement : Please note that we will require a member of the Senior Leadership Team at successful applicant schools to confirm that they have permission to make changes to the land and site on which the school is built. In giving this confirmation, the Grant Recipient school verifies that there is adequate permission from the landowner – which may be the local council, academy trust or another external body – to make thoughtful, nature-rich changes to the school site to encourage nature-rich play. There will be help, support and clear signposting at every stage to ensure risk and liability is shared appropriately between all parties.
How do you think the Happy By Nature Fund could a make a real, lasting difference to your outdoor space, your pupils and your school as a whole?
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Who will practically support making the changes and oversee their maintenance?
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LtL will support you to engage reputable Landscape Architects or designers with their own insurance to cover the Happy By Nature design process. Successful schools will need to undertake their usual processes when engaging Landscape Architects, Designers or Contractors. Contracts for, and warranties covering, the implemented changes to school grounds will be managed by schools. At the end of the project, LtL will support your school to develop maintenance plans for your new nature-rich play spaces. Please confirm agreement to this.
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We will need all schools to support the documentation and evaluation of this project through photos, verbal feedback and, on occasion, more in-depth information to help reflect on the project and shape possible future work. You may be asked to accommodate photographer visits and gain photo consent from staff, and from parents of children, who will be photographed. There may also be the opportunity to work with a videographer, which would arise from further discussion between all parties. Please confirm that you understand this and are willing to accommodate this.
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By completing this form, you are accepting that your personal data will be stored, used and processed by LtL and WWF-UK according to the organisations’ data management policies, best practice and UK GDPR law.
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If you are shortlisted for this project, we will be in touch to outline your roles and responsibilities clearly. These are outlined in the Project Guide. As at the beginning of this application form, please confirm you have read the Project Guide in full before submitting this application.
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