The Government Rural England Prosperity Fund is a new England-wide £110million two-year capital fund from DEFRA complementary to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund run by the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities. It is a top up for eligible authorities, such as Wealden District Council, which have already submitted an investment plan for UKSPF, to address the extra needs of rural areas. This funding has given Wealden District Council to deliver a number of projects including:
Wealden Community Infrastructure and Spaces Grants Programme 2024-2025 is open to new applicants
We are pleased to announce that Wealden District Council is delivering the Community Infrastructure and Spaces capital grants programme.
The programme is a capital only fund, which means applicants must spend the grants on assets such as equipment and features which help to create or improve spaces/ facilities or infrastructure where the benefits last more than 12 months.
Wealden District Council has allocated £121,259.90 towards the Community Infrastructure and Spaces Grants Programme and are asking Town and Parish Councils and not for profit organisations to apply for between £1,000 and £20,000 for projects that benefit the residents of the Wealden District.
This will be a rolling programme and applications will be processed on a first come first served basis. The fund closes in Autumn 2024, or sooner if all funds are allocated.
For guidance notes, application form and scoring sheet please go to the Wealden Community Infrastructure and Spaces Grants webpage.
Wealden Rural Business Grants Scheme
The Rural Business Grants programme will deliver capital grants of between £2,500 and £50,000 to businesses located in rural areas of Wealden. The programme is open to small and medium sized businesses (SME’s) to apply for capital grants of up to 50% of the cost of capital projects.
The aim of the programme is to support rural businesses to grow, increase their productivity and to make other improvements to their business, such as investing in Net Zero infrastructure. Capital grant projects could include farm diversification outside of agriculture, property adaptions, creation and expansion of rural leisure and tourism businesses, new equipment, machinery and commercial vehicles.
The scheme is being delivered by East Sussex County Council on behalf of the Council, for full details of project eligibility please view the Rural Business Grants Programme guidance and eligibility and email your interest and contact details to ruralbusinessgrants@eastsussex.gov.uk
The fund closes on December 31, 2024, or when all funds are allocated.
Wealden Community Spaces Grants Programme 2023-2024 – now closed
We are pleased to announce that Wealden District Council is delivering a new capital grants programme which will be able to support and enable partners to improve the natural environment such as ‘greening up’ of outside spaces and active travel initiatives. This includes improving local resilience against the impacts of climate change, accessing outdoors spaces and encouraging residents to walk and cycle more.
The council invited organisations such as Not for Profit Organisations and Town and Parish Councils to apply for grants between £1,000 and £5,000 for projects that will help benefit the residents of the Wealden district and improve/ enhance community green spaces. A total funding pot of £34,530 is available.
The grants programme is now closed. It is hoped that a further round of funding will be made available in 2024 to the amount of £103,590 and this will focus on the delivery of supporting community infrastructure, resilience, and the environment.
Future Plans for REPF
The REPF funds will also be supporting other projects across Wealden including the development of a visitor wine trail and installation of EV charging points.
