Rural Funding Roadshow Rolled Into Town!
Rural Funding Roadshows in the Scottish Borders assisted organisations and communities access essential funding.
Businesses and community groups in the Scottish Borders have been successful in applying for over £11.5million in rural funding since last summer. Scottish Borders Council and other local partners want to increase the number of applications to a series of recently launched funds and have identified a series of barriers that may be preventing businesses and groups applying.
In response, in partnership with Business Gateway, the Scottish Government, and the voluntary sector, the Council held a series of Rural Funding Roadshows for local businesses and community groups in February 2009 and were on hand again at Border Union Show in July 2009 to give out advice. These events provided easy to use information about how to access funding and business advice, which is particularly important in the current economic climate.
The Rural Funding Roadshows focused on providing assistance to access funding sources such as the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP), LEADER, the South of Scotland Loan Fund, the National Lottery and Scottish Borders Council community grant schemes, all of which can support either business or community led projects in rural areas.
The Rural Funding Roadshows, locally held events, enabled participants to meet with specialist business and community advisors to develop ideas into realistic funding proposals. Representatives from Scottish Borders Council, Scottish Government, Business Gateway, Rural Direct, The Bridge, Berwickshire Association of Voluntary Services, NFU Scotland, and Scottish Rural Property and Business Association were on hand to provide access to case studies from successful projects in other rural economies.
Councillor Vicky Davidson, Executive Member for Economic Development, said “We want to maximise the number of projects taking place around the Borders and make sure rural businesses are well placed to come out of the current downturn ahead of the game.
She added: “The Rural Funding Roadshows will be relevant to a variety of small firms across a range of sectors, including food & drink, tourism businesses, and creative industries. The overall objective is to increase applications from these interest groups and to increase the level of successful awards to applicants in the Scottish Borders.”
If you would like an information pack, please contact Lyndsey Kelly, Economic Development, at Scottish Borders Council on 01835 824000 extension 5419. You can also contact her online via our online form.
You can also download a copy of the presentation by clicking here
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