European Millions help local rural communities
Local people from rural Winchester and East Hampshire have ensured that grassroots projects have benefitted from EU cash. Providing grants of £1.5m to 116 rural enterprises across the area, the Fieldfare Local Action Group is amongst the best performing rural development groups in England.
This funding has created over 130 new jobs and enabled local businesses to invest over £7m into the local rural economy. The latest grant round saw 6 projects offered a share of £118,000. The group is on track to complete the project on time, within budget and to an exceptionally high quality. The last grants will be awarded by the end of this year.
The Fieldfare Local Action Group (LAG) is responsible for distributing LEADER funding on behalf of Defra and the EU. The funding comes from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), and is aimed at assisting rural businesses, especially farming, forestry and food related businesses, and local rural communities.
David Webb, Chair of the group, is proud of the achievements that have been made
As a new group we have worked hard to ensure that our local rural communities have been able to access this funding stream. We have limited funding left to allocate and want to ensure that it makes a real difference.”
To find out if your project might be eligible to apply for a rural development grant, please contact a member of the LEADER Project Team on 01962 848 588.
Further information about the LEADER project and a full list of enterprises that have been offered funding can be found at www.Fieldfareleader.org.uk