Prince’s Countryside Fund awards emergency grants

The Prince’s Countryside Fund has awarded more than £120,000 to 62 community-led projects dealing with the impact of coronavirus across the UK.

The successful applicants are tackling Covid-19 in a number of ways – from grocery, hot meal, and prescription delivery in remote areas, to setting up community shops and food banks, or providing business support tailored for rural and farm businesses.

It received nearly 300 applications for assistance, and thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the Royal Warrant Holders Association Charitable Trust, the Barbour Foundation, and  the generosity of its own corporate partners, were able to release £120,963 in funding to 62 projects, benefitting people living and working in rural areas.

The Fund has also awarded the Farming Community Network over £6,000 to allow them to increase their helpline provision. 

Founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2010, the Fund’s mission is to help ensure a vibrant rural economy with a thriving and resilient farming sector at its heart, and its grant programme is a major focus of activity to achieve this. 

The Prince’s Countryside Fund awards grants to local organisations, and since 2010 has distributed over £10 million in funding. 

The director of The Prince’s Countryside Fund, Claire Saunders said: ‘These small rural organisations are the lifeblood of many far-flung communities. They have adapted to provide unprecedented support to rural people, quickly, and efficiently, with the help of a dedicated army of local volunteers.

‘We are so grateful to all our sponsors, who by supporting The Prince’s Countryside Fund, have enabled the provision of these Rural Response Emergency Grants during this crisis.’

The chair of one of the recipients, the Blackwater Village Trust in Cornwall, Cheryl Marriott, added: ‘As a small community charity we are hugely grateful to The Prince’s Countryside Fund for awarding this grant towards the Blackwater Village Covid-19 Hardship fund. We already have a volunteer network helping with food deliveries and errands and now we can begin to help those having difficulty making ends meet by offering grocery vouchers.’

Photo Credit – Harry J Burgess (Pixabay)