Breadcrumbs
Rural communities boosted by £12 million cash injection – 16 July 2002
Since July 2001 the Countryside Agency has invested more than £12 million from its vital villages grant scheme in villages and towns across the countryside to fund local projects that will help revitalise them.
Commenting on today’s (Tuesday 16 July) first anniversary of the Countryside Agency’s initiative, Countryside Agency board member Kate Ashbrook said: “Our vital villages grant scheme meets a clear need to help rural communities plan for the future and improve local services through projects they design and implement themselves.
“Our research has shown that post offices, shops and pubs continue to close, community facilities need support and that the vulnerable, for example the elderly and those on low income, struggle to remain in the countryside without improved transport. In trying to help communities improve their situation, in the past year Countryside Agency grants have provided over
£7.5 million for rural transport projects and more than £2.5 million to help communities maintain existing or provide new essential services.
“We’re really pleased that communities have taken advantage of our grants and come forward with a wide variety of projects. We’ve now funded nearly 1,400 projects, some of which were totally new ideas, such as a mobile defibrillator and emergency health care training in Sussex, while others are more mainstream. From today details of all these projects are on our website - www.countryside.gov.uk/vitalvillages - and we hope this will give people ideas for projects that might suit their village or town and get more good quality applications rolling in.”
The grants available through the Countryside Agency’s vital villages scheme are:
- Community services grants of between £500 and £25,000 to help communities maintain and introduce services which are local priorities, for example child care schemes or helping a village shop;
- Parish plans grants of up to £5,000 to fund the creation of action plans that examine and tackle the social, economic and environmental issues facing a village;
- Parish transport grants of up to £10,000 to support a wide range of small scale projects to meet the transport needs of the local community;
- Rural transport partnerships that enable the creation of local partnerships to plan and implement solutions to local transport needs, which can apply for grants up to £250,000.
Kate Ashbrook concluded: “Grant funding is available for projects that meet our criteria and we’re particularly keen to see more applications coming forward for our parish transport and parish plan grants. The application forms are simple to complete and Countryside Agency staff and staff from local partner organisations are on hand to provide help with applications and getting schemes up and running. The Countryside Agency turns all applications around within 15 days and our website also provides information about local organisations who can help with applying to our scheme and to others.”
To find out more about applying for a Countryside Agency vital villages grant call the vital villages help line on 0870 333 0170.
Notes to editors:
For further information please contact the Countryside Agency press office on 020 7340 2909/7/6.
*Rural Services in 2000 report (CA 48) can be downloaded from the Countryside Agency website (www.countryside.gov.uk/ruralservices) and is available from Countryside Agency Publications, PO Box 125, Wetherby, West Yorks LS23 7EP Tel: 0870 120 6466 priced £16.
Of the £12 million awarded in Countryside Agency vital villages grants over £7,500,000 went to rural transport partnership projects, over £2,500,000 to community services projects, £750,000 for parish plans and £750,000 for parish transport grants.
None of the Countryside Agency’s vital villages grants provide 100% funding for a project. Communities are required to raise at least 25% of the cost of the project locally. For every £1 invested by rural communities in their project, either in cash or in kind, they’ve received over £3 from the Countryside Agency.
The Countryside Agency is responsible for advising government and taking action on issues affecting the social, economic and environmental well being of the English countryside.
