With the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) now accepting applications for its latest call, D2N2 will host a series of events aimed at helping potential applicants perfect their proposals ahead of the February 2020 deadline.
As part of the new call, Rural businesses across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire can benefit from a further guaranteed £35 million worth of funding to create new jobs, boost tourism, and unlock growth in rural areas.
The new call will provide grants of between £20,000 to £750,000 for rural businesses to construct or improve buildings, purchase new equipment and machinery to grow their business or open up opportunities for tourism.
This latest call contains 3 types of grant that can be applied for:
- Business development
- Food processing
- Rural tourism infrastructure
The expressions of interest window will close on Sunday 16th February 2020.
For this funding round of the Growth Programme, the threshold for minimum grants has come down from £35,000 to £20,000, meaning an increase in the number of small or micro-businesses eligible for a grant funding.
RDPE workshops
To support rural businesses across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire to make the most of these opportunities the Rural Payments Agency, D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership and the D2N2 Growth Hub will be holding a series of free to attend workshops to promote the funding opportunities to rural businesses.
Two workshops will be held at Apex Court, City Link, Nottingham, NG2 4LA on the following dates:
Two more workshops will be held at the following venues and will give an opportunity to meet rural advisers on how to complete high-quality applications to the RDPE
- Friday 13 December 2019 at Nottinghamshire County Council, County Hall, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 7Q (10.00 – 11.30)
- Monday 16 December 2019 at Bakewell Agricultural Centre, Agricultural Way Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1AH (10.00 – 11.30)
The workshops will be an opportunity for rural businesses to find out more about the funding opportunities and receive support in making high-quality applications to the Rural Development Programme.
Applying for an RDPE Growth Programme Grant
The RDPE Growth Programme handbook contains information on which projects are deemed eligible for a grant and how to apply.
Interested parties need to send an Expression of Interest form to the Rural Payments Agency, outlining how they meet the criteria for the scheme – from creating new jobs, increasing business turnover, and improving productivity.
If the Rural Payments Agency considers the project to be eligible, the applicant will then be invited to submit a full application. The deadline for all Expressions of Interest is Sunday 16 February 2020.
For more information, please contact ESIF Coordinator Richard Kirkland.
