European funding to boost rural employment in Wiltshire

Rural businesses and organisations across Wiltshire are being encouraged to apply for European grants designed to boost rural employment.

The Leader scheme is one element of the Rural Development Programme for England, funded by the EU and DEFRA.

Wiltshire Council is the accountable body for the latest wave of £11m of funding, of which around £6.2m will be public money. This tranche of grants runs for five-and-a-half years, until December 2020.

Grants will be available to support the local rural economy, in the following areas of activity: farming, micro and small enterprise employing fewer than 50 people (including farm diversification), rural tourism/the visitor economy, forestry, rural services, culture and heritage.

The application process is being administered by Local Action Groups, each with a board of volunteers assessing applications to make sure the money goes to those projects likely to create the most new rural jobs for the county. It is expected that the funding will be divided into around 160 grants. Most grants will be under £50,000.

Fleur de Rhe-Philipe, Wiltshire Council cabinet member with responsibility for economic development and skills, said: “This is a really valuable wave of European funding and it’s vital that we get as much benefit out of it as possible in terms of new employment opportunities in our rural communities.”

Six Local Action Groups covering Wiltshire have been awarded funding under the new programme (2015 to 2020). North Wessex Downs based on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), New Forest based on the national park, Heart of Wessex along the A303 in Wiltshire and Somerset, Plain Action centred on Salisbury Plain, Vale Action along the A350 corridor and Cotswold, based on that AONB.

For information about applying for a grant contact the programme manager for your local action group:

• Plain Action: Alan Truscott, email atruscott@communityfirst.org.uk call 01380 732814 or visit www.plainaction.org.uk
• Vale Action: Alan Truscott, email atruscott@communityfirst.org.uk call 01380 732814 or visit www.valeaction.org.uk
• North Wessex Downs: Dawn Hamblin, email nwdleaderprogramme@wiltshire.gov.uk call 01488 680458 or visit: www.northwessexleader.org.uk
• New Forest: Sally Igra, email Sally.Igra@NFDC.gov.uk call 02380 285368 or visit www.newforestleader.org.uk/8573
• Heart Of Wessex: Sarah Dyke-Bracher, email sarah@heartofwessex.co.uk call 07826 907361 or visit www.heartofwessex.co.uk
• Cotswold: James Lloyd, email James.Lloyd@cotswoldaonb.org.uk call 01451 862000 or visit www.cotswoldaonb.org.uk/leader