2026 sees 2,026 local projects benefit from East Midlands Airport Community Fund

Belton Village phone box converted to a library

The fund was set up in 2002 and over that time has handed out more than £2.8m to local projects that bring lasting benefits to communities around the airport.

Over the last financial year (April 2025 to March 2026), £106,405 was awarded from the Community Fund, helping to deliver 81 community projects that benefit almost 230,000 people.

Organisations within the  Area of Benefit – which stretches to the outer edges of Derby, Nottingham and Leicester to the north, east and south and includes Burton on Trent to the west  -  can apply for up to £2,000 from the fund. Information including eligibility criteria and how to apply can be found here.

Among those which benefitted from between £1,000 and £2,000 over the last 12 months are:

·       Kegworth Town Cricket Club towards replacement cricket nets

·       One Kegworth towards building a Santa Sleigh

·       Castle Donington Town Bowls Club towards an irrigation system for the bowling green

·       Belton Parish Council towards restoring a red telephone box and its conversion to a library (pictured above are Cllr Angus Sowter from the EMA Community Fund Committee with local Belton author Jamie Mollard)

·       Hemington and Lockington Sports Pavilion towards acoustic panels

·       Youth Landscapers Collective based in the National Forest area towards musical recording equipment

·       Marlborough Rovers Football Club towards a branded gazebo, flags and table for fundraising efforts

·       West Bridgford Hockey Club towards new goals

·       Devil’s Elbow Rowing Club based near Trent Lock towards a new training boat

·       Long Eaton Library Group towards chairs, tables and a sofa for a new community space (pictured below).

The Community Fund also provided an additional £60,000 towards upgrades of the 10km Airport Trail that follows the airport’s perimeter, ringfenced from historic fines to be used as part of East Midlands Airport’s 60^th anniversary celebrations last year. This contributed towards new information boards, gateway and wayfinding signs and surface improvements to a section prone to flooding which also gained new hedgerow plants (pictured below).

East Midlands Airport’s Community Engagement Manager Colleen Hempson said: “We’re always really pleased to be able to help out local groups and projects with funding from our Community Fund. We know it can make a big difference and is part of our ongoing efforts to be a good neighbour.

“Quite often our staff will visit some of the projects we’ve supported to help out as part of our commitment to volunteering in local communities – so we really feel we play a big part in supporting improvements in the areas around us.”

More information about the Community Fund and all projects which benefited from it in 2025/26 is available here: 2025-2026 EMA Community Fund Annual Report