Cumbria Fells and Dales Grants

Grants for Farms and Forestry, Rural Business and Community Groups

The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) is a package of funds aimed at stimulating rural development. The programme is planned to run until 2013 with around £8million available for the Cumbria Fells and Dales area.

Who is it meant to benefit?
- Farmers, farming families and foresters
- Local farming organisations such as cooperative groups
- Businesses in rural areas
- Locally based voluntary organisations and community groups
- Local partnerships such as market town partnerships, community planning groups or similar.

What does it fund?

1.Grants for farming and forestry activities
- Training and information for farming and forestry businesses
- Setting up of management, relief and advisory services for farming and forestry businesses
- Improvement in farm performance through the introduction of new technologies and innovation
- Improvement of the economic value of forests
- Adding value to agricultural and forestry products
- Cooperation for development of new products, processes and technologies
- Investment in small scale renewable energy on farms

2. Grants for rural business and community projects
- Farm diversification into non-agricultural activities
- Business creation and development targeted at micro-businesses with less than ten FTE employees
- Encouragement of certain tourism activity such as eco-tourism, high value/low impact tourism or the creation of tourism networks
- Basic services for the rural population
- Conservation and upgrading of the rural heritage
- Training and information for rural businesses and communities
- Support for local development strategies

What does it not fund?
- Development officers will give individual advice but the following activities are unlikely to be eligible:
- Core agricultural production, for example, erection of farm buildings for primary farming purposes
- Purely environmental projects
- Certain tourism provision in areas where there is already oversupply of facilities
-Activities that might be funded by other grant programmes

How much grant is available?
Grants for projects generating an economic return will generally be funded at up to 40% but higher grant rates may be offered for training and community based projects.

How do I apply?
The first stage is to complete an Expression of Interest form which can be obtained from the Cumbria Fells and Dales RDPE office. A development officer will then be allocated to help you prepare your application and to advise on what other information is required.

Contact
Cumbria Fells and Dales RDPE Local Action Group
The Old Stables
Redhills
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 0DT
Tel: 01768 869533