New countryside fund launched (From The Westmorland Gazette)

New countryside fund launched

10:53am Saturday 17th July 2010 in

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A NEW fund for farmers and people living and working in the countryside will be launched on Thursday (July 22).

The Prince of Wales Countryside Fund is sponsored by some of the UK’s leading businesses and aims to support Britain’s rural communities.

Cumbria is expected to be one of the main beneficiaries in its first funding commitments with grants to support the county’s hill farmers and an emergency fund to help farmers in times of crisis, such as outbreaks of livestock diseases.

It will also support the Pub is the Hub scheme which brings post offices and shops under one roof to help struggling villages.

The national organisation ‘Farmer Network’ is also set to receive a grant for training eight people in hill farming skills.

When the Prince announced the fund earlier this month, he said: “In the countryside generally and rural communities there is a great deal more hardship than people realise.

“It looks wonderful but it isn’t always like that.”