Businesses across south east Dorset are being invited to apply for grants of between £500 and £20,000 to spend on new workplace facilities that encourage their employees to cycle or adopt sustainable travel to work.

A total of £100,000 is available for the grants through BCP and Dorset councils’ Transforming Cities Fund programme which aims to reduce congestion and greenhouse gas emissions by offering people safe, green and active travel alternatives to the car, particularly for short journeys.

Under this grant scheme, businesses in the south east Dorset Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) region can apply for grants of up to £20,000 to help them build, install or improve ‘trip end facilities’ at their place of employment.  This can include projects such as the installation of bike parking/storage, showers, lockers, bike repair stands, outdoor bike pumps, clothes drying facilities and electric bike charging points.

The scheme not only focuses on encouraging employees to cycle to work, but also many of the facilities supported by the grant scheme, such as shower and locker facilities, will also encourage employees to walk to and from the bus as well as to walk and run to work.

Similar grant schemes have been extremely popular and oversubscribed, and all grants will be awarded through a competitive application process. Businesses wanting to apply for a grant should visit to our information page where they can download the guidance document and an application form.  These should be completed by 9 March 2022.

About the ‘Business Trip End Grant Scheme’:

• More information on the grants and a copy of the scheme guidance document and application form is available here or by emailing the Sustainable Travel Team at BCP Council (a2b.team@bcpcouncil.gov.uk). Please put ‘Business Trip End Grant Scheme’ as the subject.
• Businesses are required to provide a further 20% match funding from their own resources in addition to any grant that is awarded.
• Businesses applying for the grants must be located no more than two kilometres from one of the six new sustainable travel routes currently being delivered under the south east Dorset TCF programme.
• Businesses receiving grants must demonstrate a long-term commitment towards cycling by applying for Cycling UK’s Cycle Friendly Employer scheme and achieving a minimum of the bronze accreditation before grant funds will be released (details can be found here or contact accreditation@cyclinguk.org).