confident rural communities Archives - The Royal Countryside Fund

Articles Tagged with: confident rural communities

October 1, 2025

Bringing together rural community organisations from across Cumbria and Northumberland

The event, held at the Rheged Centre in Cumbria, was designed to allow these organisations from across the two counties to feedback on their work so far and find new ways to work together.

In February 2025, the RCF announced that it would be providing £387,000 of funding to 16 rural communities across Cumbria and Northumberland, in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund. This funding is part of the RCF’s first county-based programme, targeting rural organisations which have the potential to ‘power up, not prop up’ their communities.

During the morning session, attendees worked through a series of workshop activities to provide detailed feedback on their experiences so far this year, outline the challenges they’ve faced, and ultimately drive the future of the RCF’s support in Cumbria and Northumberland.

In the afternoon, attendees gathered to hear from Cumbria’s Vice Lord-Lieutenant, Lord Inglewood, and receive progress reports from several of those present.

Lynn Barnes, Director of Vista Veg, spoke about the impact of the funding the organisation has received and how trainee food growers have benefited from the programme.

Ryan Dobson, Nature Reserve Manager, and Belinda Lloyd, Habitats and Estates Team Leader, at Watchtree Nature Reserve, spoke about the powerful impact of their project on the local community and the benefits it provides, particularly to those with accessibility requirements.

Finally, Belinda Fairbairn, Project Development Manager at NICRE (National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise), gave an update on the RCF’s ongoing project to build the capacity of rural community organisations in Northumberland, particularly in harder-to-reach areas.

Speaking after the event, Keith Halstead, Executive Director, RCF, said: “The place-based support we are providing in Cumbria and Northumberland is all about working with community-led organisations made up of local people who understand their local conditions and can find solutions that are right for them. It was very inspiring for the RCF to use its convening power to bring together individuals from these organisations to hear how much work has been done so far this year and all the people who have benefitted from these projects.

“Running face-to-face events like this is also an important part of the RCF’s role and a crucial way for us to measure our charitable impact. It’s fantastic to see that our joint funding programme with The National Lottery Community Fund is working to help these groups deliver their vital day-to-day work, but also to make new connections and build their capacity for the years to come.

“We’re incredibly grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund for their support in this new partnership and we want to extend our thanks to National Lottery players, for helping to fund these amazing community-led projects in rural areas across the two counties.”

Following the event at Rheged, some of the RCF team travelled to the ‘Sunny Bank’ market garden, which has been created by Vista Veg over the course of this year.

In February 2025, Vista Veg was awarded £29,960 by the RCF. As well as funding the creation of the Sunny Bank market garden, the RCF support has allowed Vista Veg to deliver training for new entrant food growers, organise community open days and school visits.

During the visit, the RCF team met with some of Vista Veg’s trainee growers, which was a great opportunity to hear firsthand from people who have benefitted from the RCF’s funding.

Find out more about the RCF’s work with rural communities here.

February 12, 2025

The Royal Countryside Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund support 13 Cumbrian rural organisations with £308,000 in funding

The funding was awarded in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes over £600m a year to communities across the UK.

This latest funding is part of the RCF’s first county-based programme, targeting rural organisations in Cumbria and Northumberland which have the potential to ‘power up, not prop up’ their communities.

Keith Halstead, Executive Director, RCF, said: “Our new funding approach in Cumbria aims to help people who have come together to act on what really matters most to them. We received so many strong funding applications from rural organisations across Cumbria and we’re all very excited to work closely with these thirteen organisations to see how they put their collective ideas in place to shape the future of their local communities”.

Duncan Nicholson, Regional Head of Funding for North East & Cumbria at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We are very proud to be working in partnership with the Royal Countryside Fund to support these incredible organisations in Cumbria to improve lives and increase resilience in their local communities. We look forward to seeing the environmental, social and economic impact of these projects, as supporting communities to be more sustainable is one of our key missions at The National Lottery Community Fund.”

The 13 Cumbrian organisations funded through this programme are :

Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre, which brings together, analyses and shares information on Cumbria’s natural history, wildlife sites and habitats for education, has been awarded £23,250. This funding will allow the organisation to develop a package of training opportunities for community groups to develop the expertise needed to provide ecological services to their local community. Courses will be run in the local community with the aim of not only upskilling the community to carry out the work they would like to deliver in their community but also develop a ‘train the trainer’ approach to allow the communities in receipt of training to then provide training opportunities and information exchange with other communities.
Another Way, an environmental education charity, has been awarded £30,000 to support its ‘Power of 10’ movement, which provides young people and communities with a platform that promotes climate education, action, and collaboration. The charity aims to support 1,000 young people in Cumbria, training them to create projects that will benefit 10,000 people within Cumbria.
Alston Moor Partnership Ltd, a community partnership which represents the three wards of Alston Moor, has been awarded £28,875 by the RCF to fund a Volunteer Co-ordinator position. This Co-ordinator will liaise with many local groups and organisations, identifying their specific needs in the recruitment of further general and specialised volunteers, and, through a range of community contacts, come to understand what is preventing new volunteers coming forward and what might be done to make such volunteering more possible and enthusiastically embraced.
Barton and Pooley Bridge Community Fund has been awarded £29,600 to develop a sustainable and integrated transport system for the Ullswater valley for the benefit of residents, local businesses and visitors.
Bothel Village Hall has been awarded £6,000 to install electricity island infrastructure to create an emergency hub for the community.
Carlisle Radio FM Limited has been awarded £30,000 to take broadcasting out of the studio and into rural towns, offering rural residents a platform, while also fostering stronger community bonds. They will also hold workshops for rural communities focused on broadcasting, media production, and digital skills.
Grange over Sands Foodshare has been awarded £22,430 to expand its ‘food waste spiral’ approach, addressing food insecurity, climate change, and build community bonds in South Cumbria.
Grizedale Arts has been awarded £30,000 to purchase equipment to increase the offering of The Farmers Arms community hub, help to boost the local circular economy and increase community cohesion.
Orton Fells Farm Cluster CIC has been awarded £13,615 to work with Orton Wildlife and Landscapes Community Group to improve local wildflower verges, host school visits and bring together the local community with the farming community, increasing local knowledge and interest in farming and food production.
Skelton Toppin Memorial Hall has been awarded £5,000 to explore the potential to develop the hall as an emergency resilience centre through a feasibility study.
VistaVeg Ltd has been awarded £29,960 to establish a new market garden in a rural community, deliver training for new entrant growers, organise community open days and school visits.
Watchtree Nature Reserve Ltd has been awarded £30,000 to fund a new role, connecting visitors with habitat management and continuing to develop the reserve for the benefit of nature and the community.
West Lakeland Farmer Led Nature Recovery CIC has been awarded £29,988 to train four young people from the local area to become environmental land management advisors to farmers.

To date, the RCF has invested more than £12 million in over 500 rural community-led projects.

September 6, 2023

24 hours on North Ronaldsay

The RCF’s total investment of £32,000 enables the community on the island to develop their future through establishing a “Gateway House” for newcomers to the island; turning plastic litter from the beach and domestically into resaleable products, starting with coasters; to conducting a feasibility study on repairs to the drystone wall which keeps the famous North Ronaldsay sheep on the foreshore so they can continue their seaweed diet, which is vital to the survival of this rare breed.

Keith thanked Luke Fraser of the North Ronaldsay Trust for hosting his visit and Olly Gibb of Transition North Ronaldsay CIC for the early morning demonstration of the plastic recycling kit.

Keith stayed at the Lighthouse Keeper’s Cottage and visited the Wool Mill, Lighthouse Bakery & Café and the Bird Observatory and can thoroughly recommend all to anyone visiting North Ronaldsay.

Keith also stopped by BBC Radio Orkney this morning to talk more about how we are furthering our support for many people living and working in rural Scotland.

If you have a project that is working to support your rural community’s needs, we will be opening for applications to our next round of grant funding on Friday 8th September.

Find out more about our grant funding