Rural Development

Charities working in rural areas to support the education of young people or relief of poverty can apply for grants of up to £50,000. The funding is available for mainly larger projects that would have a significant impact upon rural economies. Projects supported in the past have ranged from City farms, Federations of Young Farmers Clubs and farming Community Networks. The funding is being made available through the NFU Mutual Charitable Trus...

Grants of up to £3,000 are available to enable rural pub owners, licensees, and local communities to work together to help support and sustain local services in England, Scotland and Wales. Pub is the Hub’s Community Services Fund will assist projects which support the needs of local communities by using pubs to offer a new service or replace a service that has already been lost, such as a local shop, library, post office or community centr...

Households and businesses in rural areas can apply for funding to help with poor broadband speeds as part of a new £250 million Government initiative. The Government will provide vouchers worth up to £1,500 for homes and £3,500 for businesses to support the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections where existing broadband speeds are less than 100Mbps. Applications can only be made when two or more residents or eligible small or me...

Schools, Parish Councils and other community based organisations in rural England that want to develop renewable energy projects which provide economic and social benefits to their communities and also make money by selling it back to the grid, can apply for funding through the Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) to investigate and install green energy; including solar battery storage, wind, hydro and geothermal heat projects. The RCEF provide...

Grants of up to £10,000 are available for projects from across the UK which are working to create resilient rural communities. The Prince’s Countryside Fund will award funding from the Barclays 100x100 UK Covid-19 Community Relief Fund to support farming and rural communities to cope with the impact of Covid-19, to expand on new services that have emerged to support the local community during this time and to build future resilience. Applic...

Voluntary, community and public sector organisations in Scotland can apply for Technical assistance funding through the Scottish Land Fund. The Scottish Land Fund provides grants to voluntary, community and public sector organisations to take ownership of land and buildings to help urban and rural communities to become more resilient and sustainable. Technical assistance grants of £2,500 and £30,000 are available to help prepare to purchas...