Cumbria Chamber of Commerce is pleased to launch the Rural England Prosperity Fund, a £1,016,378 project, of which £766,378 is funded by REPF for grants and £250k from UK Shared Prosperity Fund for other activity.

Working with partners we’ll be delivering advice, workshops and match funded grants to small and micro businesses in rural areas of Westmorland and Furness (i.e. the previous Eden and South Lakeland areas) to support:

• Businesses to overcome challenges facing them and respond positively to opportunities
• Farming businesses to respond to phasing out of Basic Payment Scheme and wider challenges and opportunities including diversification

For farming and other land-based businesses this includes:

• Capital grants for purchase of equipment and small scale capital improvements to help grow, diversify, innovate and improve productivity
• Advice vouchers of up to £500, which can be used with an adviser of your choice – no match funding is needed but you can choose to add more
• Workshops to support growth and resilience and help you navigate the new subsidy regimes, delivered through The Farmer Network
• For other businesses it includes:
  • Capital grants for purchase of equipment and small scale capital improvements to help grow, diversify, innovate and improve productivity
  • Adviser support through the Growth Hub’s team, including access to finance and hospitality specialists and more

Grants are available up to 40%. The minimum grant is £1,000, with an anticipated average of £15,000 which gives 51 grants in total.

The deadline for expressions of interest is 12 noon on Wednesday 24^th January 2024, the expression of interest form (available here) must be submitted by emailing info@cumbriagrowthhub.co.uk, scheme guidance is also available here.

For help accessing the support email: info@cumbriagrowthhub.co.uk