The Prince's Countryside Fund
Inspired by HRH The Prince of Wales, The Prince's Countryside Fund sees a group of businesses working together to support UK farmers and rural communities.
All the companies partnering with The Fund have a special connection to the UK countryside through the products they sell, and, so far, they have donated a total of £1 million to help The Fund to start to improve the long-term sustainability of the UK countryside and its communities.
You’ll notice the Prince’s Countryside Fund logo on many of our fresh British and Northern Irish beef lines, highlighting our support.
The funds raised will be used to provide grants to projects, both large and small, and the first ones to benefit from this new initiative are in Cumbria, Teesdale and Wales.
The Farmer Network – Cumbria
The Farmer Network is a not for profit organisation which was started in Cumbria in 2005. It is known for encouraging local farmers to work together to improve efficiency and increase their knowledge and skills.
When consulted regarding issues facing farmers in the area, the overwhelming response from Farmer Network representatives highlighted the need to provide extra support to encourage young people into hill farming. To tackle this issue, The Prince’s Countryside Fund will be supporting the Hill Farming Succession Scheme.
Pub is the Hub – Wales
Pub is the Hub is the only national advisory body working directly with licensees to support rural regeneration objectives, encouraging licensees and communities to work together.
The Fund is supporting the extension of Pub is the Hub to Wales, where the project aims to identify opportunities to develop schemes where pubs also provide essential services such as shops, post offices and older persons’ lunch clubs. As well as helping to improve communities, it allows pubs become more sustainable too.
Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Service
Teesdale is a large, remote and sparsely-populated area facing problems of isolation and disengagement amongst both individuals and communities. On top of this, the rapid changes in agriculture have had a dramatic effect on the coping capabilities of the local communities. UTASS is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the entire year to help those with urgent needs and issues.
Money from The Prince’s Fund will enable UTASS to continue with its essential services and support to farmers, including delivering training to help with the increasing amount of complex paperwork being faced by farmers. Over 450 hill farming businesses will benefit, along with 24 farmers who will specifically receive basic IT training from the body.
Find out more at www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk
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