Articles Tagged with: funding
Home / Blog Archives
May 29, 2025

The Royal Countryside Fund joins supporters at the Northumberland County Show

Once again, the RCF team were warmly welcomed by the charity’s longstanding Northumberland-based partner, Barbour. The team from Barbour ran a popular jacket re-waxing stand, raising close to £600 in donations for the RCF.

Sue Newton, Senior Global Corporate Communications Manager from Barbour said: “We are delighted to be back at the Northumberland County Show and to continue our partnership with the RCF, a charity we have supported for over 10 years.” 

Keith Halstead, Executive Director, The Royal Countryside Fund, said: “We are very happy to partner with Barbour once again in this popular re-waxing initiative at the Northumberland County Show. Our longstanding partnership with Barbour enables us to continue to support rural communities in Northumberland and across the UK, who are facing enormous social, environmental and economic pressures.

“It’s very fitting that the proceeds from this sustainable re-waxing service will go towards protecting and caring for our countryside – taking care of what is valuable. We are deeply grateful for Barbour’s continued support and commitment to rural life, which truly reflects the spirit of both our organisations.”

Find out more about how Barbour and the RCF have supported Northumberland farmers, here.

Later in the day, the RCF held a well-attended afternoon tea event, for local supporters and beneficiaries, bringing together the charity’s corporate partners and funders with Northumberland farmers and community organisers.

The event provided an opportunity for local organisations to meet and network, and hear more about the charity’s plans in Northumberland.

Find out more about the RCF’s support of Northumberland’s rural communities here.

May 19, 2025

The Royal Countryside Fund launches new support for Northern Ireland’s farmers at the Balmoral Show

To date, the Savings in Soil programme has supported over 120 family farms across England and Wales to better understand their soil health and how healthy soil can benefit both the environment and the resilience of their business. Over 78% of attending farmers are now making changes to their soil management as a result of the workshop, impacting thousands of hectares of UK farmland.

The announcement was made by the RCF’s Executive Director, Keith Halstead, at an RCF breakfast reception for local farmers, kindly hosted by NFU Mutual’s Chairman, Jim McLaren on their stand at the show. At the event, Claire Saunders and Bronagh O’Kane, from the Northern Irish regenerative agriculture festival Fields Good, were joined by Mark Palmer from the Soil Association Exchange, to discuss the importance of soil and how regenerative agriculture can benefit Northern Irish farmers.

Attending farmers received a copy of the RCF’s practical guide to soil health and addressed questions to the panel.

NFU Mutual has been hosting breakfast receptions for The Royal Countryside Fund at the Balmoral Show since 2018, to aid the recruitment of farmers to its resilience programmes. The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust has also been a longstanding donor and supporter of the RCF, as has NFU Mutual, for which the RCF is most grateful.

To register your interest for the Soils programme, access free resources and watch our short film on soil health, click here.

Later in the day the RCF team attended the Marks and Spencer Select Farm Awards, where Emma Little-Pengelly, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, presented the RCF Family Farm Award. The awards, run by the RCF’s longstanding partner, M&S, celebrate exceptional M&S Select Farms across the UK.

The Compston family (pictured above), who run Ratarnet Eggs, accepted the award at a special reception on the M&S show stand. The family were recognised for their deep-rooted commitment to sustainability, animal welfare, and community-focused farming.

Keith Halstead, Executive Director, The Royal Countryside Fund, said: “I am very happy to see the Compston family receive this very well-deserved award, recognising their outstanding work. The Royal Countryside Fund turns 15-years-old this year and finding ways to farm in harmony with nature is more important to the countryside now than it’s ever been. It’s exciting to see family farms like the Compston’s lead the way and show that good environmental stewardship can go hand-in-hand with productive farming and building a more resilient farm business.”

“As we celebrate our 15th anniversary, we also want to say a massive thank you to everyone at M&S who have supported our charity since 2010, demonstrating their continuing commitment to our partnership helping farmers to build a resilient future.”

Cara and James Compston said: “Farming has always been a way of life for our family, and we’re proud to build on the foundations set by James and Matthew’s parents. Winning this award means so much to us — it’s a real encouragement to keep doing what we love, and a reminder of the important role that small family farms play in feeding the nation and looking after our countryside.”

The Balmoral Show also provided an opportunity for Keith Halstead and RCF trustee, Janet McCollum, to meet with Northern Ireland’s Minister of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir.

At the meeting they discussed the RCF’s work in Northern Ireland and the practical, grounded support that the charity provides for farming families to work in harmony with nature and to build a strong, sustainable farm business.

Members of the RCF team also met with Rural Support, a farm support group and RCF local delivery partner, that does vital work in Northern Ireland to support family farms and rural communities.

The RCF has been a longstanding supporter of Rural Support, most recently awarding the charity £45,000 over three years to provide more help for family farms across Northern Ireland, to help them weather economic difficulties and combat the rural mental health crisis.

The RCF team would like to extend their thanks to everyone from NFU Mutual, Rural Support, the Soil Association Exchange, Fields Good, Marks & Spencer, and all the attending farmers for their steadfast support of the charity and for providing such a warm welcome at the Balmoral Show – the first agricultural show of the season.

April 16, 2025

The Royal Countryside Fund awarded £20,000 to provide pressure checks for farming families

The project, delivered in partnership with trusted local farm support groups, aims to tackle the serious health challenges facing the UK’s farming communities by meeting them at the centre of their social and economic life, at livestock markets and agricultural shows.

It will run in collaboration with four members of the RCF’s Farm Support Groups Initiative, who are embedded within their farming communities:

This new funding will allow each group to extend their existing services, providing more dedicated healthcare hubs at their local marts, to help reach farmers. These drop-in clinics offer tailored services based on the needs of each region, including health screening, blood pressure and cholesterol checks, referrals to GPs or specialist services, advice on nutrition and fitness, and mental wellbeing support.

Research shows that farmers are at significantly increased risk from a range of health issues, with poor mental health being the biggest hidden problem facing the industry. In 2023, 62 farmers tragically took their own lives, up from 55 the previous year. With long days sitting on a tractor, many farmers also do not get enough physical exercise to maintain their health, are at the highest risk of developing skin cancer due to working long hours exposed to UV rays, and male farmers over 45 have an increased risk of heart disease compared to non-farmers.

Keith Halstead, Executive Director, The Royal Countryside Fund, said: “This funding supports vitally important work, which addresses the often invisible crisis in rural healthcare. These programmes are all about recognising the unique pressures of farming life and meeting these challenges with compassionate, practical and community-based solutions.

“We are very grateful to The Health Lottery Foundation and the Health Lottery Players for their support, which will make a clear and tangible difference to the lives of farmers and their families in Scotland, Wales, Lancashire and Lincolnshire.”

March 10, 2025

The Royal Countryside Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund support Northumberland rural organisations with £79,000 in funding

The Royal Countryside Fund (RCF), the charity focused on the unique issues facing farming and rural communities, has awarded £79,000 of funding to three rural community organisations in Northumberland, in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund.

The three Northumberland organisations funded through this programme are:

  • The Nurture Project CIC, a community interest company which provides educational outdoor experiences, has been awarded £30,000. This funding will go towards a new project to enhance community cohesion through connecting with nature.
  • Rural Design Centre Ltd, a not-for-profit centre which works with a range of rural stakeholders to understand business support and innovation activities, has been awarded £29,700. This funding will allow the centre to co-design and pilot a new community-led rural enterprise service.
  • Lesbury Community Shop Ltd, a community-owned and run, non-profit-taking, village shop and provider of community-focused services, has been awarded £19,365. This funding will allow the shop to create a complete annual event program, with dedicated days to support local charities, groups and craftspeople.

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, The Royal Countryside Fund, said: “We’re all very excited to work closely with these fantastic Northumberland organisations to see how they put their collective ideas in place to shape the future of their local communities. We’re incredibly grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund for their support in this partnership and we want to extend our thanks to National Lottery players, for helping to fund these amazing community-led projects.”

Duncan Nicholson, Regional Head of Funding for North East & Cumbria at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We are rooted in the communities we serve, and we know grassroots groups and charities can have a huge impact, so we are proud to be working in partnership with The Royal Countryside Fund to support organisations in rural Northumberland to improve lives in their local communities.”

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

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”.

“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.”

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.

January 10, 2025

Royal Countryside Fund launches new grant programme for rural communities

The new, UK-wide grant programme from the RCF opens for applications on the 10th January 2025 and organisations have until the 21st February 2025 to apply for funding to create tangible change in their community. To apply, organisations will need to send a short video and complete a simple ‘Expression of Interest’ form on the RCF website. In these videos applicants should let the RCF know who they are, what they aim to do, why their project is needed and how it will help their community. Applicants should also set out how their project meets the RCF’s funding priorities.

The RCF’s grant programme is focused on supporting projects that:

  • Help keep young people in the countryside
  • Power-up rural communities
  • Increase environmental sustainability
  • Build emergency resilience in rural areas

Just over 17% of the population (10 million people) live in rural areas in England, according to UK government figures. The figure for Scotland is similar (17%), but the figures are higher in in Northern Ireland (36%), and in Wales where 21% of the population live in small villages or hamlets with a population of less than 5,000. Rural depopulation, particularly of younger people, continues to be a major threat to these communities across the UK.

Keith Halstead, Executive Director, RCF, said: “Rural communities are facing immense economic and social uncertainty across the UK. In some areas, the aging of the rural population and the lack of opportunities for younger people are threatening the very future of these communities. There are no easy solutions, but we want to find and fund innovative initiatives that can ‘power up’ rather than ‘prop up’ these places. We want to work directly with community-led organisations who are tackling the local issues they face by giving them the funding they need to bring their project to fruition.”

Projects must be community-led and will need to demonstrate that they actively listen to, and understand, the needs of their community. All applicants for this latest programme must be a properly constituted, community-led organisation based in a rural area with a turnover of less than £500,000.

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

For full eligibility details, please see the RCF website here.

December 6, 2024

RCF celebrates Grampound Community Shop’s 10-year anniversary

In 2012, the only grocery store in Grampound was set to close, leaving nearby residents increasingly isolated and without easy access to a shop. In response, the local community came together to establish a community shop, offering shares in the project to over 220 residents, and working hard to secure planning permission and raise the necessary money.

The new community shop opened in November 2014, thanks in part to funding from the RCF. Since then, a dedicated team of volunteers have run the shop, stocking the shelves, carrying out maintenance and managing the finances. Over the last 10 years the Grampound residents have maintained their shop with energy and enthusiasm, improving the facilities, and providing a self-sustaining service for the benefit of the whole community. Today the project is widely regarded as a highly successful enterprise and its team is frequently asked to mentor other similar start-ups.

Alongside the core retail business, the shop provides other valuable facilities, including a weekly Post Office service and a way for locals to pick up medical prescriptions. It is also a vital hub for the community, where residents can socialise and volunteers can develop their skills.

RCF trustee, Chris Sparrow, attended the shop’s 10-year anniversary celebration on November 2nd to offer his congratulations on behalf of the charity. With over 100 people in attendance, the joyous atmosphere at the event was proof of the affection the Grampound community has for its shop.

Pippa Fry, Rural Communities Engagement Manager at the RCF, said: “With our RCF grants we want to fund sustainable, community-led solutions that ‘power-up’ up communities, increasing their resilience. Helping rural communities to thrive is essential for the future of our countryside.

“We know what a massive difference funding can make to the day-to-day lives of people in rural areas and the Grampound Community Shop is a fantastic example of this. The shop’s 10-year anniversary celebration shows just how valuable and cherished this institution has become. We wish them all the best for the next 10 years of their journey!”

To find out more about the RCF’s work with rural communities and to see information about upcoming grants, click here.

October 23, 2024

The Royal Countryside Fund announces £170,000 of new support for farming groups across the UK

These farm support groups are trusted partners of the RCF and are embedded in the rural communities they serve. This new funding will go towards a range of sustainable projects to help create a successful future for farming families. The RCF’s Farm Support Group Initiative is supported by Waitrose & Partners and the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust.

The nine farm support groups which are receiving RCF funding are:

  • Dartmoor Hill Farm Project, which has been awarded £20,000 to allow it to provide trusted and accessible advice to local farmers at a vital time, as they transition from direct payments to the new Environmental Land Management schemes.
  • Exmoor Hill Farming Network, which has been awarded £20,000 to fund its programmes to help enhance farmer health and wellbeing, ease rural isolation, and prepare the next generation of local farmers.
  • Farm Cornwall, which has been awarded £20,000 to support and advise local farmers on new environmental schemes and continue the charity’s role as a source of support for farmers and their families as they deal with the stresses and strains of the industry.
  • Herefordshire Rural Hub, which has been awarded £20,000 to grow the farm support group and further develop its service, so that it can bring its help to more local farmers.
  • The Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI), which has been awarded £15,000 to help run its existing programme and manage the delivery of the RCF’s Farm Business Resilience Programme.
  • Rural Support, which has been awarded £15,000 to provide more support for family farms across Northern Ireland, to help them weather economic difficulties and combat the rural mental health crisis.
  • The Farmer Network Ltd, which has been awarded £20,000 to continue to run a not-for-profit support network, helping farmers across a large area of northern England.
  • The Farming Life Centre, which has been awarded £20,000 to invest in their organisation to ensure it continues to meet the needs of farmers in Derbyshire.
  • Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services Ltd (UTASS) , which has been awarded £20,000 to continue to fund its activity in the north east of England and allow it to bring vital support to local farmers.

Keith Halstead, Executive Director of The Royal Countryside Fund, said: “This funding is about powering-up family farms and giving them the support they need to survive and thrive. Our aim is to support rural communities across the UK, helping to sustain a living landscape of working family farms and prosperous rural life. Farming can be so different across the UK, so it’s important to us that we support locally-run farm support groups who are embedded in the communities they serve and therefore know what will make the biggest difference in their local area.

“Farmers are currently facing a whole raft of challenges and we know it’s a difficult time for so many families, so it’s vital our funding goes to where it will make the most impact. The farm-support groups we’ve chosen to fund are truly innovative and collaborative organisations that are working with their local communities to find new and sustainable ways to build a better future. These are all community-led support groups which can help farmers find the right opportunities, look after their health and wellbeing, and promote sustainable, economic, social and community development.

“I want to thank our supporters and corporate partners who help us fund this change. To all these generous organisations and individuals, I want to say: thank you, your support is making a real difference.”

To find out more about the RCF’s Farm Support Group network, please visit: http://www.royalcountrysidefund.org.uk/farmsupport

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
August 31, 2023

NFU Mutual Charitable Trust donates £60,000 to The Royal Countryside Fund 

James Kittow (RCF farmer), Edward Richardson (Farm Cornwall), Allan Wilkinson (RCF Trustee), Keith Halstead (RCF) and Nick Turner (NFU Mutual) at the Royal Cornwall Show.

The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust is one of the main ways leading rural insurer NFU Mutual provides charitable donations, and its work forms part of NFU Mutual’s £3.25m charitable giving pledge to support its members and their communities during 2023. 

This latest round of funding will help to deliver a range of initiatives, including rural poverty relief, helping small farming businesses to thrive, educating and mentoring young people, and supporting the UK’s air ambulance network.  

The Royal Countryside Fund is very grateful to have received £60,000 to help Farm Support Groups and ensure that we can continue providing vital services to local farming communities. Other organisations set to benefit from the donations include Addington Fund, RSABI, The Farming Community Network and Tir Dewi  

Nick Turner, Group Chief Executive of NFU Mutual, said: “Supporting our communities has always been at the very heart of our approach, and NFU Mutual is committed to making a positive impact through its charitable giving programme. These latest donations from the Trust will help support our members and their communities in many different ways, and we’re very proud to be championing the work of these great causes.”   

Keith Halstead, Executive Director of The Royal Countryside Fund, explained how the Trust’s donation will be making a difference: “The Royal Countryside Fund is incredibly grateful for the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust’s continued support of our Farm Support Group Initiative. This funding has allowed us to increase capacity across the network, supporting hundreds more farming families each year on a wide range of issues from business advice through to pastoral support, helping to ensure a thriving and diverse agricultural community in the UK. As farming families continue to face uncertainty, we are proud to offer them practical assistance when they need it most.” 

Learn more about our funders

We rely on your donations to support rural lives and keep British farming and village communities sustainable

Donate

Subscribe to our newsletter




Please see our privacy policy for information on how we use your data.


Fundraising Regulator logo

©2025 The Royal Countryside Fund Registered Charity No. England and Wales 1136077 and Scotland SC048055

The Royal Countryside Fund, 13th Floor, 33 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0PW

Company Limited by Guarantee No. 07240359

Cookie Policy | Privacy Policy | Safeguarding Policy