Grant Directories

The Rural England Prosperity Fund is part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and supports the aims of the government's Levelling Up White Paper and Future Farming Programme. The Fund provides funding for small businesses and community infrastructure in rural areas of England. It aims to improve productivity and strengthen the rural economy and rural communities. The Rural Fund provides capital funding for projects that support new and existing rural businesses to develop new products and facilities, and for new and improved community infrastructure that provides essential services and assets for local people and businesses. The funding can be used to fund capital projects that benefit businesses or communities in rural areas.

The John Spedan Lewis Foundation supports UK registered charities with natural history, wildlife conservation, entomology, ornithology and horticulture among their stated charitable aims. The Foundation awards small grants at their bi-annual meetings.

The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust was established in for the advancement of the arts, health and medical welfare and environmental protection or improvement.   Through the Environment programme the Trust aims to protect the countryside, species and habitats as well as well as the UKs heritage and rural crafts and skills.

The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) Countryside Productivity Scheme provides funding for projects in England which improve productivity in the farming and forestry sectors and help create jobs and growth in the rural economy. This can include: water resource management and reservoirs; improving forestry productivity; adding value to Agri-food and improving farm productivity. Under the scheme, grants are available to help livestock, dairy, arable and horticultural farmers improve farm productivity through investing in new technology, such as robotics, to reduce cost or improve product quality. The scheme also offers funds for farmers and food processors to invest in new equipment and machinery to improve the processing of milk, meat and fruit. The minimum grant amount is £35,000 and can cover up to 40% of the eligible project costs.

The MacRobert Trust makes grants to registered charities in the areas of Services and Sea; Education and Training; Children and Youth; Science, Engineering and Technology; Agriculture and Horticulture; and Tarland and the Local Area. Grants can range between £1,000 and £50,000 and occasionally the Trustees make a recurring grant of up to three years. In addition a small grants programme facilitates awards of up to £10,000.

The ARC-Addington Fund, which is one of the Farming Help charities and helps maintain the economic and social fabric of the farming community and offers grants to help viable farming businesses that experience financial hardship due to unforeseen and unexpected circumstances and have no other means of short term support. Examples of what the Trust may be able to help with include a sudden illness where paying extra staff may be a problem; extreme weather which has caused irreparable damage to crops or livestock or certain animal diseases which prevent you from moving or selling your stock.

The Stanley Smith (UK) Horticultural Trust provides grants of up to £5,000 to promote horticulture; the conservation of the physical and natural environment by promoting biological diversity; the creation, development, preservation and maintenance of gardens (preference will normally, but not exclusively, be given to gardens accessible to the public); and the advancement of horticultural education. The type of activities funded include restoring gardens of historic interest; developing new gardens for public access and enjoyment; and gardeners' training schemes run by appropriate organisations; etc.

The Sylvia Waddilove Foundation focuses on providing grants to charities CICs and Registered Societies for projects relating to the following purposes: Education (organic farming, animal husbandry, veterinary science, animal welfare and animal surgery); The visual and performing arts; Medical Research; The relief of disability and severe illness; The preservation of buildings of historical or architectural significance; The accommodation of those in need; The skills based training of young people.