The Heart of Wessex Local Action Group is working with local people and businesses to develop opportunities for improving the rural economy and quality of life for people living and working in the area through a targeted grants programme. Our aim is:
“To act as a catalyst for supporting the development of vibrant, independent and interconnected rural communities based upon strong economic growth”.
LEADER is a community-led European funding programme that supports rural community development. The planning, decision making and implementation is done at a local level, carried out by a Local Action Group (LAG). The LAG is made up of private, public and community sector volunteers with a wide range of experience and knowledge of local rural issues.
This round of funds (2014 – 2020) is strongly focused on economic growth and jobs. The LAG will decide which projects it will fund in its area, based on the Local Development Strategy , but all projects must support one or more of the 6 national LEADER priorities. These are to:
1. Support to increase farm productivity
2. Support for micro and small business and farm diversification
4. Provision of rural services
5. Support for cultural and heritage activity
6. Support for increasing forestry productivity
Have a look around our website, and if there’s anything else you need, any queries, comments or support, or even if you’d just like an informal chat about an idea for a project or joining the Local Action Group please do contact our Programme Management Team.
We want to hear your project ideas, see here for more information about what we can fund and how to apply.
Heart of Wessex is part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) 2014-2020 Funding Programme supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)/Rural Payments Agency (RPA) through the European Union’s LEADER Programme. Wincanton Community Venture is our Managing Agent and Wiltshire Council is acting as our Accountable Body – without all of them we couldn’t do what we do! The link to the EC Rural Development pages is here.