Four environmental improvement projects are to receive grants totalling £12,000 from city centre businesses in the latest round of the City Ambition Fund run by FOR Cardiff, the capital’s Business Improvement District (BID).
These are the latest of 35 diverse projects the City Ambition Fund has supported to promote local culture, improve the city centre environment and support independent businesses. Past projects include local illustrator Jack Skivens’ publication of his first children’s book, Night of the Animal Wall , set in Cardiff city centre, and the Cardiff Wine Passport, which has generated over £60,000 of additional revenue for independent city centre bars and restaurants since the fund supported its launch in 2022.
The grants are made by FOR Cardiff as part of its delivery of the £1.4 million additional investment made by its 800+ city centre-based members to improve the area and create more reasons to visit. Its work focuses on making it cleaner, greener and safer for everyone.
This year, the focus of applications was on the environment following the publication of FOR Cardiff’s ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) strategy, developed in line with the Well-being of Future Generations Act. Uniting the city’s ESG goals, the strategy followed extensive consultation with member businesses who wanted to see a city-wide approach.
“We started the City Ambition Fund because our members wanted to provide a way to bring to life the brilliant ideas Cardiff businesses, residents and community groups have for our capital,” explained Emily Cotterill, associate director at FOR Cardiff.
“This year, working towards the city’s ESG goals, we invited applications to fund ideas with a specific environmental focus that will make Cardiff an even better place to live, work, and visit – and we’re excited to see how the three successful projects develop.”
The Huggard, the long-established centre for adults who are homeless and sleeping rough in Cardiff, receives £3,000 towards improving the exterior of its premises on Dumballs Road – an important gateway between the city centre and the Bay. Using warm, earthy colours and introducing large planters and customer seating outside its cafe, the Huggard team intends to “create a calm, welcoming environment that promotes a sense of pride amongst those who walk through” and encourage community engagement, with volunteers delivering the project.
Environmental charity, Keep Wales Tidy, will receive £3,000 towards its “Hedge in a Box” scheme to provide a hands-on way for businesses to improve urban biodiversity and, together, create a network of connected green spaces for wildlife through the city centre. They will be able to buy a subsidised box that includes ready-prepared planters of 30 native hedging plants, a ladybird tower, a solitary bee box, a bird feeder, a bird bath, native bulbs for pollinators and hand tools for maintenance.
Repair Café Wales is the third recipient of £3,000 to drive support for their Fix It Feb campaign in February 2026 encouraging people to fix rather than replace broken items. The team will deliver training sessions for businesses on the sustainability and well-being gains of a reuse and repair mindset and promote volunteering opportunities to run or participate in local Repair Cafés where people bring their items to be fixed.
The fourth project, ‘A Playful, Green City Centre – Designed by Us’, will explore how Cardiff’s city centre can become more playful and welcoming for children and families through creative workshops. Led by Dr. Reem Okasha and Hussa Al-Ghunaim, the project will bring together local schools, businesses, community members, and biodiversity and play experts to co-design practical ideas for a “vibrant, child-friendly, and nature-rich city centre”.
“We’re fortunate that Cardiff has been recognised by UNICEF as the UK’s first Child Friendly City, and we want to build on this achievement by co-creating design ideas with children that enhance families’ experiences in the city centre,” said Dr Okasha.
“We’re grateful to FOR Cardiff and their member organisations for this grant, which will enable us to place children and biodiversity at the heart of co-designing spaces in the city centre.” said Ms Al-Ghunaim.
