Are you a farmer, forester, forestry contractor, rural business, community organisation, or are looking to set up a new rural business or develop a community project?
Is your business/community project within the Loddon and Eversley Heritage Area in north-east Hampshire? (see map here)
Will your business/project benefit the wider rural economy/community?
Is your project idea innovative, sustainable, provide additionality or community driven?
If you can answer yes to these questions, you may be eligible to benefit from funding from Europe and Defra under the LEADER programme. LEADER funds are designed to help the rural economy - supporting farming, land management, forestry, rural businesses and the rural community in a sustainable way, whilst also helping to address environmental and social issues. The Loddon & Eversley Local Action Group (LAG) has secured £1.8 million to spend over the next five years (until 2013) in supporting a range of schemes that will help create wealth in rural north-east Hampshire. The funds will help develop new enterprises as well as providing major opportunities for existing businesses and communities to work together to invest in their future. Click link above to find out about our priorities for funding and whether your idea may be eligible, or contact Amanda Bassett on 01256 381186 for an informal discussion. Every project must send in an Expression of Interest before submitting a full application form. You can also download our three factsheets which provide further detail about the sort of projects that would be eligible for funding.
Sometimes you have the impression that applying for grant funding is very complicated and time-consuming. Although there are quite a few things to consider in the LEADER process, our job is to make it all as clear to you as possible. The main way we do this is personal help, either on the phone or face-to-face so find our details on the contact page.
The other help we have invested in is a comprehensive set of guidance to take you through things step-by-step on a website. Ask Amanda to give you a password to this section, where you will also be able to discuss things with other applicants or the LEADER team in forums.
If you already have your password, login here.
Examples of projects that received funding from the Loddon and Eversley LEADER project include a firewood and coppice merchant based near Farnham, and a large local estate in North Hampshire.
Grants of over £10,500 have bought wood processing machinery of different types for the applicants. more ...