Category: Grants & Funding

Just a heads up regarding Supporting Rural Communities which is the flagship grant programme of the Prince’s Countryside Fund, awarding £500,000 each year to support projects that enhance the viability and sustainability of rural communities.

The PCF will support projects that will create a long-term difference in rural communities across the UK with grants of up to £25,000 over two years. Applicants must be from properly constituted, not for profit organisations with an income of less than £500,000. We particularly welcome applications from groups and organisations with projects in hamlets, villages and small market towns. 

The Spring Round of funding opens in March 2023.

BBN may be a useful vehicle for an application should there be a community project that we all wish to get behind. e.g. a sustainable energy project for Bourton!

All local businesses might be interested in accessing the Rural England Prosperity Fund. BBN received the information 13th October! You have just over a week to get your thinking caps on!

Cotswold District Council has been allocated £764,292 from the Government’s Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) to be spent over two financial years,  with £191,073 available in 2023/24 and £573,219 in 2024/25.  The REPF provides capital funding to:

• Support new and existing rural businesses to develop new products and facilities that will be of wider benefit to the local economy. This includes farm businesses looking to diversify income streams
• Support new and improved community infrastructure, providing essential community services and assets for local people and businesses to benefit the local economy

In order to confirm the funding, the council needs to submit an ‘Investment Plan’ to the Government by the end of November setting out how we will use the funds. To help us develop the most effective investment plan possible, we are asking businesses and organisations to submit any project ideas they have. This will help us to understand the types of projects currently being worked on and their scale. Projects must be deliverable by the end of March 2025 and must comply with the REPF guidelines and can be anywhere within the Cotswold District.

Please note that by submitting your ideas you are not committing to undertake the project and neither is the Council committed to funding it. There will be a full application process for local projects once the Council’s Investment Plan has been approved.

Please complete the form by 5pm on Friday 21st October using the following link: https://forms.gle/Q9KJX7bTMvPdsXwq8

Further information on the Rural England Prosperity Fund can be found here.