Rural England Prosperity Fund

We have been allocated £400,000 from the Rural England Prosperity Fund to support rural businesses and communities as follows:

Full details are available on the Government's REPF Prospectus.

The fund is being used to introduce a new grant scheme for:

Rural businesses: Grants 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.
Rural community organisations and Parish Councils: Grants to support new and improved community infrastructure, providing essential community services and assets for local people and businesses to benefit the local economy.

Who can apply?

The following organisations can apply:

Small businesses (between 2 and 50 employees and an annual turnover under £10 million)
Community organisations (voluntary organisations and registered charities)
Parish Councils

Your organisation must have between 2 and 50 employees and a turnover under £10 million.

Capital grant funding for:

Businesses
- small scale investment in micro and small enterprises in rural areas.
Community organisations and Parish Councils
- investment in capacity building and infrastructure support
- impactful volunteering and social action projects to develop social and human capital in local places

capital projects eg a lasting asset such as a building or equipment and must have a value of over £10,000.
unable to be funded by private finance
in a rural area, defined by Defra - a map is available (please click on Administrative Geographies, Other Administrative Boundaries, Rural England Prosperity Fund).
viable – applications must include a robust business plan to demonstrate project viability.

Successful applications will demonstrate how projects will achieve some or all of the following outcomes:

Businesses:
- Jobs created
- Jobs safeguarded
- Number of businesses adopting new to the firm technologies or processes
- Number of businesses with improved productivity
- Number of businesses experiencing growth
Community organisations and Parish Councils:
- Increased users of facilities or amenities
- Improved perception of facilities or amenities
- Volunteering numbers as a result of support
- Improved perception of events

Examples of projects can be found in the Prospectus and the Interventions list.

We cannot support projects that have received funding from other Government sources including:

Projects that were awarded REPF funding for 23/24 include:

The Bay Trust - refurbishment of a holiday let to support the educational facility at The Pines Gardens
Kentish Condiments - new factory equipment
Bechange - insulated timber building to extend the Community Gardens educational, social and community uses.

Please download and complete the relevant application pack and return in to us by 12 Noon, Tuesday 30 April 2024:

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