Customer and Communities Improvement Fund

You can bid for funding for any project that addresses an environmental or social need within any community across the length and breadth of the CrossCountry network. Applications will be judged against several criteria – read on to find out how to submit a successful proposal. 

 We are looking to award grant funding across a wide range of schemes and activities – anything from biodiversity projects to apprenticeship schemes and from diversity and community outreach to projects removing barriers to rail travel.   

An integral aspect of CrossCountry’s Customer and Communities Investment Fund is that it is designed to support schemes that have a tangible community benefit, address an area of social need, and are not for commercial gain. A strong application for a CCIF grant should: 

• Show clear evidence of how the project will address an area of community or social need and show a clear link to the CrossCountry network, in line with our Customer and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy.
• Demonstrate a clear level of community engagement, offering clear evidence of meeting an issue identified by a local community. 
• Set out clear plans for delivering the project, with accurate costs, timescales, how the project will be managed and where appropriate assurances about any consents or permissions needed from other organisations.  

The CCIF programme only offers funding for schemes over a twelve month period, so organisations that require ongoing funding will need to show how they will do this after the CCIF funding has been used.  

Match funding is an important part of many projects, and we welcome applicants who are able to utilise other funding from other sources, especially where funding has already been confirmed. However, we are aware that not all schemes are able to generate funding from other organisations, and this should not deter bidders from submitting schemes that have a clear social need and have demonstrated a high level of community engagement. 

We will welcome all creative ideas and solutions. Although CCIF is designed to support projects that have been identified by communities across our network, it may be that as part of our ongoing work and day-to-day operation we are already working on such projects. So, if you have an idea in mind, we would be delighted to hear from you. 

CCIF cannot fund work that we are already committed to deliver as part of our National Rail Contract (NRC) with the Department for Transport or as part of our day-to-day operation.  

Similarly, as CCIF is intended to support projects which, generally, would not meet normal commercial criteria, ideas such as installation of ticket machines, commercial offers or other methods of generating direct revenue benefits to CrossCountry cannot receive any CCIF funding.  

Equally, CCIF is not available to fund feasibility studies into new stations or new services, as either these are being undertaken as part of our NRC or have other dedicated funding avenues to support such schemes. Unfortunately, CCIF cannot support day-to-day resourcing of community organisations.

You can apply using an easy to complete application web form, which will be available when the applications window will be open from Monday 11 November 2024 and Friday 6 December 2024. You can also download a copy of the application form here which you can email to [email protected] . Further funding windows will be announced in due course. 

Please refer to the guidance in this document when applying to ensure you can submit the strongest possible bids.  

After the closing date (Friday 6th December), CrossCountry will review all applications and may contact applicants if there is a need to clarify and of the details. A CCIF Review Group comprising of CrossCountry Regional Directors and other senior managers will carry out an impartial review and assessment process, to classify all schemes as follows: 

1. The scheme is one of CrossCountry’s preferred CCIF bids for the current year: in this case we may some further questions which we would like you to answer relating to your application.
2. The scheme has potential; however, we have some reservations and would like you to answer some further questions before we can consider the scheme’s potential for this year.
3. The scheme is unsuccessful in this year’s CCIF programme, and we will be in touch as soon as possible to give you detailed feedback as to why we have not opted to progress the proposal

Following final approval of the CCIF programme of schemes, which can take up to three calendar months, we will provide more detailed feedback on individual bids and inform successful applicants. 

If you have any further queries about the application process and general questions about CCIF, please contact our dedicated CCIF inbox: [email protected]