North Warwickshire District Council and Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council have together secured £1.416 million of European funding through the LEADER Programme (2015-2019). LEADER is part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) and is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
The money will be allocated to businesses, groups or organisations that can demonstrate a benefit to the local rural economy. To be successful, applications must contribute to the creation of jobs or the development of businesses in the rural areas.
The first call for applications is now open
This call is for projects from farmers, foresters and small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The deadline for outline applications in this first round is the 4 January 2016. Further applications to deliver projects relating to rural services, tourism, cultural and heritage activities will be invited from next year.
To discuss a potential project idea or to receive an outline application form, contact the LEADER Programme Team at North Warwickshire Borough Council, on 01827 719356 or email leaderproject@northwarks.gov.uk Alternatively visit the Facebook page at: /NWHBLEADER
1st December 2015, 10.00am – 3.30pm, Bosworth Hall, Market Bosworth
This is the inaugural annual rural conference for the Borough of Hinckley and Bosworth, which will focus on the key challenges and priorities for rural localities, creating a forum for sharing, learning and planning, to inform an annual rural work programme, within the context of an agreed Rural Strategy.
The programme for the event will focus around a number of high level priorities for the Borough:
- Access to services and facilities
- A Responsive and Enabling Planning and Policy Framework
- Rural Housing Delivery
- Countryside & Environment Protection and Enhancement
- Economy and Enterprise
- Community Safety, Empowerment and Action
Please see the attached flyer for more details on the issues to be covered at the event.
To book your free place, please contact Edwina Grant, Strategic & Community Planning Officer, Edwina.grant@hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk Tel 01455 255629. Please specify any specific dietary or access needs.
Please note there will be ample space for those wishing to present an exhibition stand/table. Please confirm requirements with Edwina as soon as possible, and no later than one week prior to the event.
We are now over half way through the first call for East Leicestershire LEADER funding. Apply Now!
If you are a micro-business or a small tourism business in the East Leicestershire LEADER area, you can now apply for between £2,500 - £35,000 to grow your business and support jobs and the local economy. To find out more about this call for funding, please visit our open calls page. This call closes on 29th November 2015.
There will be further opportunities to apply between now and 2020. Please see our funding timetable for more details.
East Leicestershire LEADER is a European funding stream aimed at creating growth and jobs in the rural economy. Funding for each of the following 6 LEADER priorities will be made available at different times throughout the LEADER programme:
- support businesses with less than 50 employees
- support farm diversification
- boost rural tourism
- increase farm productivity
- increase forestry productivity
- provide rural services
- provide cultural and heritage activities
To find out more about the East Leicestershire LEADER programme, including to check if you are in an eligible location, visit east-leicestershire-leader.html. Alternatively, you can contact the East Leicestershire LEADER team at eastleicestershireleader@leics.gov.uk or 0116 305 62 98. Twitter users can stay up to date with the programme by following @EastLeicsLEADER.
Gold awards were presented to 13 tourism businesses at the fifth annual Leicester and Leicestershire Excellence in Tourism Awards 2015. Gold winners and Highly Commended finalists received their awards at the ceremony on 5 November 2015, hosted by Leicester Shire Promotions and held at Mercure Leicester, The Grand Hotel.
The winners in each category were:
Accommodation Provider of the Year
- Mercure Leicester, The Grand Hotel - Gold
- Kilworth House Hotel - Highly Commended
- Best Western Plus Ullesthorpe Court Hotel & Golf Club - Highly Commended
Tourism Event of the Year
- Melton Mowbray Victorian Fayre - Gold
- Foxton Locks Festival - Highly Commended
Small Visitor Attraction of the Year
- Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre - Gold
- Stoneywell - Highly Commended
- The Boilerhouse - Highly Commended
Taste of England Award
- The White Peacock - Gold
- 34 Windsor Street - Highly Commended
- National Space Centre - Highly Commended
Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
- King Richard III Visitor Centre - Gold
- Curve - Highly Commended
- National Space Centre - Highly Commended
Access for All Tourism Award
- Attenborough Arts Centre - Gold
- National Space Centre - Highly Commended
Sustainable Tourism Award
- Horseshoe Cottage Farm - Gold
Tourism Pub of the Year
- The Belper Arms - Gold
Business Tourism Award
- imago - Gold
Tourism Experience
- King Richard III Reinterment - Gold
- Hawkwise Falconry - Highly commended
Holiday Park of the Year/Self Catering Provider of the Year
- Eye Kettleby Lakes - Gold
- The Dandelion Hideaway - Gold
Bed and Breakfast Award
- Badger's Mount – Gold
Winners on the night will now be re-judged for the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2016. In the 2015 VisitEngland awards, four local businesses made it through to the finals including Gold Award winner, Hotel Maiyango, as well as The Dandelion Hideaway, The Exchange and the National Space Centre.
The Excellence in Tourism Awards were held as part of the Leicester Business Festival, which runs from 26th October until 6th November 2015.
If you are a local charity, community group, social enterprise or local/parish council and you work with vulnerable or disadvantaged people, you may be able to apply for a SHIRE Community Grant.
There are two SHIRE Community Grant Schemes:
Your SHIRE Community Grant;
Groups can apply for up to £2,500.
This will fund projects which contribute to one or more of the six themes;
1. Encouraging vulnerable young people to achieve their potential
2. Encouraging healthy lifestyles, including physical activity and healthy eating
3. Supporting older people to live in the community
4. Supporting vulnerable people in the community
5. Supporting carers
6. Addressing financial vulnerability
- See www.leicestershireforums.org for more details
SHIRE Community Solutions Grant
Groups can apply for up to £10,000 for activities which benefit vulnerable people/groups through early intervention and prevention activities.
- See www.leics.gov.uk/shiregrants for more details
Further Information
For more information about the grant schemes, or to discuss a potential project, please contact:
Andy Hayes or Noel Singh
Strategy, Partnerships & Communities
Chief Executive's Department
Room 300 B, County Hall
Glenfield
Leicestershire
LE3 8RA
Tel: (0116) 305 7269 or (0116) 305 7020
Email: shiregrants@leics.gov.uk
Information about alternative funding is available via the Funding Toolkit:
www.fundingtoolkit.org
There is now less than one month to apply to the LLEP Growth Programme (EAFRD).
This call seeks applications that support jobs and growth in the rural economy and is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
The deadline for outline applications is: 27th November 2015 at 1700hrs.
In this call for funding, micro and small businesses in rural areas can apply as well as farmers or members of the farm household who wish to diversify into non-agricultural activities. Grants of between £35,000 and £140,000 are available for projects including in the tourism and local food and drink sectors and/or supporting good quality rural workspace and farm diversification.
Grants can cover a maximum of 40% of the total eligible costs of the project, the business will be required to fund the remainder of the project costs using private funding.
Before submitting an application for this funding, applicants will need to be registered for Rural Payments
The programme is managed by the Rural Payments Agency on behalf of Defra and any technical questions should be directed to them. The Economic Growth Team at Leicestershire County Council can assist with general queries such as about local priorities. Contact details are given below.
Application details and information on how to apply are available via the government website at the link below;
Contacts;
Rural Payments Agency
Tel: 03000 200 301 (Rural Payments helpline)
Email: GPEnquiries@rpa.gsi.gov.uk
Matthew Jones
Policy Officer, Economic Growth Team, Leicestershire County Council
Tel: 0116 305 3117
E-mail: matthew.jones@leics.gov.uk
The first call for East Leicestershire LEADER funding is now open. The call will be open for 6 weeks, closing on 29th November.
This call is focussed on two of East Leicestershire's local priorities:
Local Priority 1: A thriving short-stay destination for people interested in: fine food and drink, culture and heritage, field and outdoor pursuits
Local Priority 2: Networked home-based businesses and micro enterprises with confidence to grow
If you have a project which supports one of these priorities, this call could be for you!
Grants of between £2,500 - £35,000 are available, which could pay for up to 40% of the eligible costs of the project.
The funding could contribute to a number of costs, including;
- Construction costs
- Purchase of equipment or machinery
- Processing and marketing of products
- Acquisition of patents, licences, copyrights, trademarks
- Marketing and promotion as part of a larger project
- Capital costs for supporting events/festivals
For further details and to apply, please see the Oakleaves website.
Launch Event
As part of the Leicester Business Festival, we will be holding a Launch Event on Tuesday 27th October, 19:00-21:00 at The Coplow Centre, Billesdon LE7 9AR. The event will be a chance for businesses to hear more about LEADER and how they can apply. There will be a funding workshop with the LEADER Project Manager and the following local organisations will be on hand to give information to applicants;
- Superfast Leicestershire
- Leicestershire Promotions
- Federation of Small Businesses
- National Farmers Union
- Shire Grants
- East Midlands Chamber of Commerce
Please see the event page for more details. The event is free to attend, please e-mail matthew.jones@leics.gov.uk or call 0116 305 3117.
Date: Monday 26th October 2015
Time: 4.00pm – 6:30pm
Venue: HORIBA MIRA Ltd, Watling Street, Nuneaton CV10 0TU
This is a FREE event to encourage businesses to network and seek opportunities of working together. The MIRA Technology Park offers a unique opportunity to develop a supply chain from within local businesses.
Find out how to;
- Promote opportunities for your business to both sell to and procure goods and services from companies within the cross border area, including the MIRA Technology Park.
- Strengthen and support the local supply chain to maximise the benefits to existing businesses in the local area.
- Identify strengths in the supply chain as a marketing asset to new companies moving into the area.
Places at the event need to be booked by Wednesday 21 October
Please book by visiting: www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/FDHGIL
For more information email: regeneration@hinckley‐bosworth.gov.uk
We are happy to announce that East Leicestershire LEADER will be open for business from this Monday, 19 October.
From 9am on Monday, Outline application forms will be available to download from the website http://www.oakleaves.org.uk/east-leicestershire-leader.html along with a useful applicant handbook. This first call for applications will be mainly focussed on tourism projects and micro businesses and will be open for 6 weeks. For more details on who can apply and the call priorities, please see the website.
Launch Event
The first ever Leicester Business Festival is starting on 26th October across Leicestershire, bringing with it an array of the very best in business events, including the East Leicestershire LEADER Launch Event on 27th October at The Coplow Centre, Billesdon, Leicestershire LE7 9AR.
This will be a chance for businesses who are interested in LEADER to find out more about the process and how they can apply for funding. The Rural Payments Agency will give a short presentation on the LLEP Growth Programme, which closes on November 27th.
The event will feature expert speakers as well a LEADER funding workshop and chance to network and share experience with other local businesses. Attendees will hear case studies from successful projects which have previously received similar grant funding.
A number of organisations including: LLEP Business Gateway; East Midlands Chamber of Commerce; Leicestershire County Council SHIRE Grants; Superfast Leicestershire; Leicestershire Promotions; and National Farmers Union will be in attendance to provide information to attendees.
A timetable for the event is available at the Oakleaves Website.
To book a place or to find out more, please e-mail matthew.jones@leics.gov.uk or call 0116 305 3117.
You can now keep up to date by following @EastLeicsLEADER on Twitter!
Monday 2nd November 2015 – 11.00 till 14.00 hrs
The Dock, Exploration Drive, Leicester, LE4 5NU
LLEP Business Gateway invites you to attend a Major Infrastructure Supply Chain event, which is a free event organised as part of the Leicester Business Festival.
LLEP Business Gateway have joined with HS2, Transport for London and Network Rail to present local businesses across the Midlands the opportunity to hear about their investment strategies, and help businesses to understand how they can seize opportunities to become part of their supply chains.
Construction for HS2 is planned to start in 2017, and contracts are already being let. Transport for London and Network Rail have multi-billion pound improvement programmes over the next 20 years. These major infrastructure projects are of national consequence, and represent very real possibilities up and down the country for all businesses to benefit from opportunities created within their supply chain.
Together these infrastructure providers will create thousands of business opportunities. Their requirements for goods and services will span many sectors, many services, will be suitable for businesses of all sizes, and will be generated over a number of years.
Their procurement requirements will be passed down to their prime contractors and throughout the many tiers of their supply chains, so the opportunity to hear about what they are looking for and when and how these opportunities can be accessed is not to be missed.
