The Royal Countryside Fund (RCF) has announced £170,000 of new support for nine farming groups in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, including £20,000 of funding for the Herefordshire Rural Hub. These farm support groups are trusted partners of the RCF and are embedded in the rural communities they serve. This new funding will support a range of sustainable projects to help create a successful future for farming families. The RCF’s Farm Support Group Initiative is supported by Waitrose & Partners and the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust.
This RCF funding will allow the Herefordshire Rural Hub to grow the farm support group and further develop its service, so that it can bring its help to more local farmers.
Keith Halstead, Executive Director of The Royal Countryside Fund, said: “This funding is about powering-up family farms and giving them the support they need to thrive. Our mission is to support rural communities across the UK, helping to sustain a living landscape of working family farms and prosperous rural life. We absolutely can’t do this without the buy-in of the farming families who are so often the pillars of this rural life. Farming can be so different across the UK, so it’s important to us that we support locally-run farm support groups who know what will make the biggest difference in their local area.
Farmers are currently facing a whole raft of challenges and we know it’s a difficult time for so many families, so it’s vital our funding goes to where it will make the most impact. The farm-support groups we’ve chosen to fund are truly innovative and collaborative organisations that are working with their local communities to find new and sustainable ways to build a better future. These are all community-led support groups which can help farmers find the right opportunities, look after their health and wellbeing, and promote sustainable, economic, social and community development.
“I want to thank our supporters and corporate partners who help us fund this change. To all these generous organisations and individuals, I want to say: thank you, your support is making a real difference.”
Kate Speke-Adams, Managing Director of Herefordshire Rural Hub, said: “The support we have received from RCF as part of its Farm Support Group initiative has been transformative for Herefordshire Hub. Grants often don’t support core costs and development, therefore the support from RCF which allows us to invest in these integral functions has enabled us to develop our leadership, invest in our HR, finance and administration processes, bid for and deliver a wider range of projects and services. We feel our impact is growing significantly as a result.”
The £20k will help support our activities throughout the year to support rural and farming businesses during challenging environmental and financial times. In the coming weeks this includes:
Succession workshop to help local farming businesses address the big question of “what happens next…?” Having succession plan is vital and it should be an intrinsic part of planning for the long-term future of any business. There is no one-size-fits all solution, but this workshop will help you start the process to develop a transition plan from one generation to the next. (30th October 10am)
Herefordshire Future of Farming event (11th November 6pm) an engaging evening of discussion to explore what the future of farming could be in the county. Featuring a panel of speakers from home and away exploring the opportunities and barriers of different business approaches when considering food & environment, speciality & diversity, succession & new entrants.
Herefordshire’s Rural Business Advice day (12th November 12-6pm at Lyde Arundel) which will see over 200 farmers and rural business owners attend support clinics, presentations on key topics and access business advice from 40 supporting local organisations and businesses.
Green Futures Event (Early Dec TBC, two sessions am & pm) will provide updates to farming businesses to assist with funding scheme changes, best practices relating to nutrient management and compliance with regulatory requirements on farm.