Countryside entrepreneurs and rural start-up businesses can now apply for £5,000 in funds to help kickstart their businesses.
Applications to Rural Start-Up Fund have opened today (14 October), an initiative which supports entrepreneurs and start-up businesses based in the countryside.
As part of it rural businesses receive financial support as they embark on a new business venture.
Now open for a third year, a total of £5,000 is available to be awarded to one winning business or shared between a number of rural start-ups.
Forest Holidays and the Prince’s Countryside Fund, the two groups behind the initiative, are now inviting applications.
Gemma Wren of NaturesGems Tours, one of 2021’s winners said: “A little bit of faith from someone else goes a long way – it’s all great to have a business idea and plan to move it forward but when someone believes in it enough to invest in you then that’s a huge boost.
"It’s given me the confidence to go out and talk to people as a serious small business with a clear mission and a little bit of cash to kick-start and test things.”
Applicants must be able to demonstrate how their business will, in some manner, support rural communities, promote conservation of the countryside, or support rural sustainability.
Those interested in applying to the fund must be 18 or over and embarking on a rural business venture.
Applications close at midday on Wednesday 9 November.
