Transpennine Route Upgrade spreads Christmas cheer by gifting £175,000 of funding to local communities

Having launched this year, the new initiative from TRU will see the funds given to local community groups, schools and charities to create or enhance community-focused facilities, spaces and places across the 70-mile Transpennine route.

A total of 28 organisations were successful in their applications to the scheme, out of the 279 who applied.

Groups receiving a small grant (between £1,000-£5,000) include:

• FungALL – based in Manchester, FungALL transforms underused spaces into urban mushroom farms to address food insecurities for local communities. The funding will go towards the refurbishment of an existing community mushroom farm.
• Woodscape – located near Huddersfield, Woodscape are dedicated to preserving local, ancient woodland. The funding will replace machinery needed to help restore the woodland and enable improvements to the group’s community allotment.
• Thornhill Trojans – an Amateur Rugby League Club based near Dewsbury, the Thornhill Trojans will use the funding to enhance their community centre through painting and decorating.

Groups receiving a medium grant (between £5,000 – £20,000) include:

• Incredible Edible – based in Leeds, Incredible Edible grows food for communities to take for free. The funding will enable a ‘Gardening for Wellbeing Project’, where participants will be taught how to grow food, improve their wellbeing through gardening and provide fresh food for local residents.
• The Place, University of York – The Place is a community-embedded learning centre in York for young people and adults which aims to narrow the significant attainment gap in the area. The funding will create a space for 1-2-1 educational mentoring and mental health support for secondary school students, while also providing facilities for its community garden.
• The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) – a national charity which restores and protects nature in local communities. The funding will enable natural environment and access improvements across Leeds and York, while also providing training and volunteering opportunities for disadvantaged and under-represented groups.

Watch the video to hear from some of the successful organisations receiving a grant:

Anna Humphries, Head of Sustainability and Social Value for TRU, said:

“We are delighted to have offered this funding to 28 fantastic organisations along the Transpennine route.

“The establishment of the TRU community fund has been a big milestone for the programme, and we’re excited to see the positive impact it will have on local communities in the coming years.”

Caroline Crossley, Assistant Director from TCV Yorkshire, said:

“We work to connect people with the nature on their doorsteps so we’re really delighted to be working with the Transpennine Route Upgrade team who are kindly sponsoring a couple of projects that we are proposing to do with our communities in Yorkshire.

“At Skelton Grange [Environment Centre] we are hoping to improve the path network, so it makes the site much more accessible for everybody. Alongside that, we’re going to be putting in some new benches and planting some woodland bulbs to make the site attractive to the people that come and visit and learn about their local environment.”

Keith Hunter, a volunteer with Woodscape, said:

“Woodscape are a charity that look after ancient woodland in the Bradley area of Huddersfield. We’re delighted to have been recipients of a grant from the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

“It’s going to give us the funds to buy some much needed new equipment to replace our old and obsolete tractor and chipper and we’re really looking forward to making a difference for another 30 years with the equipment we’ve been able to buy”.

Further funding is planned to be released by TRU in 2025, and organisations will be encouraged to apply again for the opportunity to improve spaces and places in local areas.

The scheme is one of many sustainability initiatives undertaken by TRU this year, as outlined in its 2024 Sustainable Development Report, which summarises the achievements made since the launch of the TRU Sustainability & Social Value Strategy – ‘Our Guiding Compass’.

To date, the project has delivered over 16,000 hours of volunteering, employed 330 apprentices and over 170 graduates, and hosted over 15,400 days of work experience for young people.