Jean Cartman Award 2025/2026
What is the Jean Cartman Wilder Communities Award 2025/26?
We are excited to launch this new award for local community groups who are connecting with nature! We want to encourage and support local activities which are benefiting nature, wildlife and people in Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside.
If you are already busy taking actions for nature, we want to hear from you!
You can preview the application questions here: Jean Cartman Wilder Communities Award Application
What are we looking for?
Examples could be anything ranging from:
- Activities enjoying the outdoors e.g. foraging, nature and wellbeing walks, gardening, climate activism
- Art projects related to nature and climate change e.g. protest art, beach art, recycled art
- Improving a local green area e.g. litter picking, pollinator friendly planting, community art
- Advocating for nature and wildlife e.g. campaigning, local actions or activism
- Creating wildlife areas e.g. bog gardens, tree planting, planting wildflowers
- Species focused projects e.g. bird boxes, pollinator pathways, hedgehog highways, reptile hibernaculums, citizen science surveys
Image © Alex Reynolds
What’s up for grabs?
The award for 2025/26 has a top prize to the value of £500 and two runner up prizes to the value of £250!
- The winning group will receive a wish list of items up to the value of £500
- Two runners up will receive a wish list of items up to the value of £250
All winners will also receive:
- Ongoing support from Northumberland Wildlife Trust to help make their projects happen
- Will have the opportunity to be celebrated through our social media channels to showcase their amazing work
- A printed certificate
- A celebratory roundel to put on display
- An invitation to our final celebration event!
Katrina Martin/2020VISION
Who can apply?
Entry is free and open to any community or community group in Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside. The award is open NOW and closes at 5pm on Friday 16th January 2026, with winners to be announced on 1st February 2026.
The award is open to anyone, whatever the size of your project or community group. We particularly encourage applications from community groups that have experienced barriers to accessing nature. This includes BIPOC community groups, groups led by Deaf and Disabled people, LGBTQIA+ communities, minority groups and groups in urban locations.
If you need any support with this application, please email mail@northwt.org.uk or call 0191 284 6884.
The Jean Cartman Wilder Communities Award commemorates the life and ethos of Jean Cartman, a member of the wildlife charity for over 40 years, a knowledgeable birdwatcher, enthusiastic wildlife gardener, generous donor to environmental charities and a passionate advocate for the natural world.
Additional info and terms & conditions
- Entry is free and open to any community or community group in Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside.
- Groups may include;
- Formal Community group (have a constitution and/or bank account)
- Informal Community group (do not have a formal structure yet)
- Youth group
- Place of faith
- Community allotment/garden/orchard/woodland
- Charity/CIC
- Please see above for project examples/ideas or for more inspiration go to the Nextdoor Nature Hub Take action for nature | The Nextdoor Nature Hub
- We can offer you support to fill in your application – if you would like some help please email mail@northwt.org.uk or you can call us on 0191 284 6884 and ask to be connected to the Communities team.
- To enter the award you must complete a short application form, please use the orange ‘Apply now’ button above or click here for a link to the form.
- As part of your application we ask that you provide a wishlist of up to £500 to make your project happen. The award winnings cannot be given in cash/BACS transfer. Instead, winners will receive items on their wishlist, provided by NWT.
- Unfortunately we cannot fund staff time or overheads for your group.
- Top prize for the Jean Cartman Wilder Communities Award 2025/2026 is to the value of up to £500, with two runner up prizes of up to £250.
- Runners up will be contacted to decide which items on their wishlist they would like to prioritise.
- If items on your wishlist change in price between application and awarding the prize, we will contact you to discuss similar alternatives to ensure that your group receive the full value of the award.
- The Jean Cartman Wilder Communities Award 2025/26 is open NOW and will close for applications on 16th January 2026 at 5pm.
- Applications will be reviewed by a panel of Northumberland Wildlife Trust staff using a scoring system to promote fairness.
- Winners will be announced on 1st February 2026.
- Winners will receive items from their wishlist to the value of the prize awarded (top prize and runner up prizes) by the end of March 2026 with an in-person visit from Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Communities team.
- Winners will walk away with;
- their project wishlist to the value of up to £500 to make their community project happen
- support and advice from Northumberland Wildlife Trust staff
- the opportunity for promotion on NWT’s website and social media to showcase their amazing work
- a printed certificate
- a celebratory roundel to put on display.