Rural England Prosperity Fund

The Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) supports capital projects that improve productivity and strengthen rural economies and communities.

Specifically, the fund aims to support:

• new and existing rural businesses to develop new products and facilities that will benefit the local economy (this includes farm businesses looking to diversify income streams)
• new and improved community infrastructure, providing essential community services and assets for local people and businesses to benefit the local economy

The REPF has given us £400,000 to deliver projects across a two-year period.

In 2023/24, £100,000 was available to spend. Rural businesses and community organisations could apply for grants of up to £10,000, as part of the REPF grant scheme we developed. The Community Funding Panel assessed the applications, and they allocated funding to six rural businesses and five community organisations.

Applicants that we funded include:

• a food manufacturing company, which bought a range of equipment to help them produce and distribute their product to national retailers
• a farm, which bought car park matting and a gazebo, so they can operate their sunflower picking throughout the summer season and welcome an increased number of visitors
• a vineyard, which bought new barrels to enable production of wine for export
• a football club, which used the funding to resurface its access track
•  two allotment sites, which bought compost toilets
• a parish council, to install a new surface for its tennis courts

The remaining £300,000 of the Fund will be available in 2024/25. We plan to launch a REPF grant scheme later this year and will publish details of the scheme and application process in due course.