A million pounds could soon be winging its way to Blackbird Leys in Oxford to help make the estate greener.

The community hopes to become one of 10 areas to land money from the National Lottery to help cut its carbon footprint.

A bid has been lodged for a Communities Living Sustainably grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

If successful, it would mean grants of between £10,000 and £1m would be available to groups on the estate, which could be used for schemes such as solar energy, better insulation for houses or food-growing co-operatives.

Parish council chairman Gordon Roper said: “This would be something really great for the Leys. The fund is basically to improve the sustainability of communities and the initiative has £10m to spend on 10 communities in the UK.

“They are especially looking at more deprived areas with more than 10,000 people living there. So Blackbird Leys would be ideal.”

The Big Lottery Fund aims to help the winning communities tackle the impact of a changing climate.

Co-ordinated by the parish council, local businesses, schools and Oxford Brookes University contributed to the bid. They are expecting to hear if they have been successful next month.

Mr Roper said: “Projects that could be funded include things like putting solar panels on houses if people can’t afford their electricity. And another interesting thing suggested was workshops where members of a dying trade can pass on their skills to the next generation.

“Things like watchmaking, carpentry, things that would be really useful.”

Mr Roper added: “There’s no guarantee we will get it. But it would be nice.”

The fund was set up to support vulnerable groups and communities who are more likely to be affected by climate change.

Sally Meachim, the Clockhouse Project’s development worker for the over 50s Sally Meachim said: “Money that’s coming into the Leys that local people have the opportunity to use for things they feel are important, has to be a good thing.

“Money that is controlled within the local community means it’s close to the people who are working on the ground and hopefully that would mean they have a say in the way it’s used.”