Announcing the Recipients of our Summer Climate Grants

Sep 8

5 min read

Across Oxfordshire, extreme heatwaves, changing weather patterns, and eco-anxiety are increasingly affecting daily life. Thanks to funding from Oxfordshire County Council distributed through CAG Oxfordshire, local community groups are leading the way with practical, grassroots solutions.

Grants have been awarded to community projects across three themes: Heat Safe Homes, Community Resilience, and Climate Anxiety. Thirty-one Oxfordshire groups have been awarded funding to help kickstart 54 different projects to address the impacts of extreme weather – especially heatwaves, following a summer of record temperatures.

The grants, ranging from £85 to £3,000, will be used by organisations across the county to tackle the impact of high temperatures, floods, droughts, and storms in Oxfordshire caused by climate change.

Images: One Planet Abingdon artwork, Sustainable Chipping Norton Activities and Somnning Common hedgehog highway

Heat Safe Homes

As summer temperatures rise, keeping living spaces cool and safe is essential—especially for vulnerable residents. These projects offer low-cost, innovative solutions to help households adapt:

21st Century Thame (South Oxfordshire): Coordinating a team of local "Tree Carers" to care for street trees that provide vital cooling along local streets, benefiting approximately 200 residents.
Banbury Community Action Group (Cherwell): Running practical community talks focused on low-cost indoor cooling, ventilation, humidity control, and water saving, alongside distribution of heatwave coping items.
Banbury Community Shed (Cherwell): A group of members will develop the software to monitor inside and outside temperatures and alert the homeowner to the best time to open or close windows.
Bioabundance (South Oxfordshire): Raising awareness through "Beat the Heat" information sessions, door-to-door pamphlets in Wallingford, and public tour-days showcasing cool-home adaptations.
Cherwell Collective (Cherwell): Creating accessible graphics on solar gain, leading workshops on making summer curtains from repurposed materials, and installing cooling tech at their Kidlington hub to serve as an SOS cool space.
Greener Henley (South Oxfordshire): Expanding their "Pledge for Planet" platform to work directly with early adopters—like Sonning Common Primary School—to implement practical shading and ventilation.
Her Land (South Oxfordshire): Hosting a hands-on workshop testing regenerative, low-cost natural materials (wool, hemp, cork, and algae foam) as removable window coverings to reduce solar heat gain.
Integrate CIC (Oxford): Delivering the "Our Homes Fight the Heat" initiative in Blackbird Leys, offering home cooling advice and support packs (fans, thermometers, window shading) to low-income and vulnerable households.
Sustainable Charlbury (West Oxfordshire): Hosting adaptation workshops on affordable home cooling and identifying community spaces where canopies and parasols can create managed cool spaces.
Sustainable Didcot (South Oxfordshire): Running summer workshops covering everything from no-budget shading techniques to solar-powered air conditioning and wall insulation.

Community Resilience

Building climate resilience requires robust community infrastructure, shading, emergency planning, and water management that withstand extreme weather events.

Shading & Community Cool Spaces

Flo's - The Place in the Park (Oxford): Installing external retractable awnings over kitchen and meeting areas to prevent heat disruption and keep essential services open during extreme heat.
Cholsey Pavilion Trust (South Oxfordshire): Upgrading their south-facing library with solar-powered opening windows and blinds so the community space remains usable in high temperatures.
Tadmarton Parish Council (Cherwell): Fitting ceiling fans in their village hall to expand its use from a winter "warm space" into a summer "cool space" for residents.
Freeland Energy Group (West Oxfordshire): Converting the former Freeland Chapel into an off-grid, climate-resilient community social hub equipped to offer safe shelter during extreme weather.
Friends of Bloxham Grove Academy (Cherwell): Installing air conditioning in designated areas to help neurodiverse students manage temperature regulation and continue learning during heatwaves.
FarmAbility (West Oxfordshire): Creating shaded outdoor resting and working areas to protect participants with physical and neurological conditions from heat exhaustion.
Her Land & Wild About Risinghurst: Adding shade sails and garden parasols to outdoor community gathering areas.

Trees, Water & Food Systems

21st Century Thame & Thame Town Council (South Oxfordshire): Organising community watering drives for young shade trees in local parks, and introducing town centre planters with shade benches.
Faringdon Town Council (Vale/South): Installing rainwater harvesting water butts in Faringdon Town Park to sustain shade trees during dry periods.
Nature Recovery Network (West Oxfordshire): Upgrading watering systems and shade netting to propagate and plant 2,000 deep-rooted, flood-resilient floodplain meadow plants.
Transition Lighthouse Empowerment Space (Oxford): Installing rainwater harvesting systems at their Blackbird Leys garden while hosting workshops on sustainable water use and flood preparedness.
Bioabundance (Grapevine Project): Supporting community-led food growing across raised beds and window boxes to enhance local food security.

Local Planning & Engagement

Banbury CAG, Greener Henley & Oxford Friends of the Earth: Developing heatwave emergency plans with families, local organisations, and parish councils, while relaunching Sustainable Botley focused on community resilience.
One Planet Abingdon & Brightwell Orchard Group: Hosting community screenings of the People's Emergency Briefing to engage MPs, local leaders, and decision-makers in grassroots policy change.
Sustainable Charlbury (Charlbury CAN): Establishing a dedicated neighbourhood action team to coordinate climate adaptation events and identify cool spaces.
Cherwell Collective & Parasol Project: Running cultural pop-up cafes and youth summer sessions focused on climate impacts, water use, and community inclusion.
Iffley Fields Residents Association (Oxford): Developing Meadow Lane Playground into a climate-resilient space featuring wetland and drought-tolerant planting.

Climate Anxiety

Climate anxiety is the sense of fear, worry, or tension linked to climate change and can be experienced by anyone. These projects offer safe spaces to meet and talk without pressure to act.

21st Century Thame (South Oxfordshire): Hosting Owlfest, a community festival celebrating native birds and practical garden conservation to inspire joyful engagement with nature.
Banbury CAG (Cherwell): Offering nature connection, gentle Tai Chi Chih, and peer support in Bridge Street Community Garden specifically tailored for parents of neurodivergent children.
FarmAbility (West Oxfordshire): Running monthly "Climate Conversation" sessions combining natural art, poetry, and sculpture to give adults with learning disabilities a creative space to process climate feelings.
Nature Recovery Network (West Oxfordshire): Supporting autistic participants and young people through quiet, mindful tasks like hand-potting rare wildflower seedlings.
One Planet Abingdon (Vale of White Horse): Facilitating climate cafes, listening circles, forest bathing walks, and sustainable fashion events to reduce isolation.
Hendreds Environment Group (Vale of White Horse): Expanding their "HEG Grows" community allotment into a green social prescribing resource that boosts wellbeing through organic gardening skills.
Her Land (South Oxfordshire): Delivering five farm-based workshops exploring "Active Hope," soil tending, foraging, and nature connection.
Integrate CIC (Oxford): Launching the "Cycle & Connect" hub in Blackbird Leys, offering bike maintenance skills, community rides, and practical climate action.
Oxford Friends of the Earth (Oxford): Screening The Eco-Anxiety Africa Project (TEAP) documentary to explore global youth perspectives on resilience.
Sustainable Chipping Norton & Eco SoCo: Hosting community film screenings (Hope! series and People's Emergency Briefing) paired with facilitated discussions.
Cherwell Collective, Stonehill Community Garden, & Transition Lighthouse: Creating inclusive outdoor spaces, gardens, and discussion groups for tower block residents, vulnerable adults, and local families to share plant-based meals and build lasting community bonds.

See a full list of the grant recipients with a brief description of their projects here:

You can read more about climate resilience and adaptation and how we're supporting groups around the county with this work on our projects page on Climate Adaptation.