Rural companies and organisations in North and South Nottinghamshire can now access £2.8million of LEADER funding to help boost business and create jobs.
LEADER – the French acronym stands for ‘links between the rural economy and development actions’ – is a European Union initiative which provides funding at a local level to help rural businesses and create new jobs in their areas.
The two new LEADER programmes offer a total of £2.8m and businesses in North and South Nottinghamshire have until January 25 to apply to help boost rural employment and business growth.
Up to £1.5m for North Nottinghamshire (Newark and Sherwood, Bassetlaw and Mansfield) and £1.3m for South Nottinghamshire (Rushcliffe, Gedling and Ashfield) is available to rural businesses and organisations with projects focused on any of the following:
- Increasing Farm Productivity
- supporting new and expanding small and micro businesses
- rural tourism
- rural services and
- forestry productivity
The minimum grant which can be applied for is £3,500 and the LEADER programmes’ funding will last for four years (until 2020).
The work that the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership does with LEADER programme funding bodies to develop and support rural businesses is in addition to separate EU funding D2N2 receives, to promote economic growth in rural areas; its £5.5m from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
For further guidance on the above and to apply, click below:
Media wanting more information about the work of the D2N2 LEP can contact Sean Kirby, D2N2 Communications Manager, on 0115 9578749 or email: sean.kirby@d2n2lep.org
