Wychavon Growth Fund

Accessible Video Transcript: Wychavon Growth Fund Success Stories

• Video Title: Wychavon Growth Fund success stories
• Published By: Wychavon District Council
• Duration: 3 minutes, 21 seconds

Part 1: Aztec Adventure

[00:05]

[VISUAL: The video opens with a fake image of a website and the text “Wychavon Growth Fund success stories” being typed in.]

[00:05] Mark (Aztec Adventure):

"My name is Mark from Aztec Adventure. We're a multi-award-winning company with three sites in Worcestershire. We're over here at Upton Warren today out on the lake in some sailing boats. We’re an outdoor leisure business. We have two lakes where we offer sailing and paddleboarding, and over in Evesham, I have a crazy golf course and a high ropes course."

[VISUAL: Footage of Mark sailing a small dinghy sailboat talking into the camera, followed by close ups of him pulling ropes, steering sails and helping a woman zip up her life jacket.

[00:23] Mark:

"So this grant, it was a 50/50 grant between Wychavon District Council and us. We bought three sailing boats—there was £28,000 in total, and the council put in £14,000."

[VISUAL: Footage of Mark looking into the camera pulling ropes and steering the sail ship and wide shots of the boat out on the lake.]

[00:37] Mark:

"The boats have been a great asset. We’ve had individual groups learning to sail, we’ve had instructor courses running using them, and we’ve also had the RYA here doing senior sailing instructor courses. So they are great boats for a great variety of people, and they’ve really helped. Receiving the grant is the only way I could afford to buy these boats, so it’s a massive help to the business and everyone that comes down and uses them."

[VISUAL: Mark talking into he camera with the sunlit lake in the background followed by close up shots of him laughing and talking to a woman passenger in the boat.]

[01:01] Mark:

"If you’re thinking about applying for a grant, it’s definitely worth doing. The support is there from the council, it’s easy to do, and it’s definitely worth going for."

[VISUAL: Mark smiles at the camera with the sunlit lake and active sailboats visible behind him.]

Part 2: Watersedge Wellness Venue

[VISUAL: Transition to a tranquil countryside lake setting. The camera pans across a custom-built wooden studio structure with large glass windows overlooking the water. Cut to Sophie standing outside the bright studio space speaking to the camera.]

[01:13] Sophie (Watersedge):

"Hi, I'm Sophie and I'm a co-founder here at Wateredge. We are a holistic wellness venue—we do everything from paddleboarding to bungee fitness, mental health dip sessions, sauna sessions... yeah, quite a wide array of different kind of wellness opportunities here."

[VISUAL: Montages showing participants enjoying wild swimming in the lake, people relaxing near a barrel sauna, and a group enjoying bungee yoga in the studio.]

[01:31] Sophie:

"We actually lost our mom five years ago coming up, and she always wanted to do something with the lake. We had it in the family as a fishery, so she always wanted to do paddleboarding or swimming or something like that. After we lost her, I was due to move back to London, and my sister said, 'Do you want to set this up in honor of our mom?' So I didn't move back to London, and together we've done it as a team."

[VISUAL: Cut to footage of Sophie walking up and into the spacious interior of the wooden wellness studio, followed by more cut away shots of people enjoying the yoga session.]

[01:59] Sophie:

"So the grant from Wychavon was £25,000, and we used it to fund the studio, which cost a total of about £170,000. It's totally changed how we operate everything."

[VISUAL: Footage shows people participating in a yoga class inside the warm studio, while through the window, swimmers can be seen entering the lake outside.]

[02:14] Sophie:

"Before, we were a bit compromised because we had the stretch tent space, but we couldn't ever do anything together at the same time because obviously that's where everyone changes and stuff. So now it's made that an option. We have yoga on at the same time as a swim, and people are able to come and do both all in one, rather than having to make two journeys to come and do the same sessions."

[VISUAL: Close-up of Sophie speaking to the camera, followed by cut away shots of her talking to a woman, chatting to people by the fireside in front of the studio and more overhead shots of the lake and people wild swimming.]

[02:35] Sophie:

"It's meant that we can do loads of sessions that are warm and much safer, so yeah, it's made a hell of a difference. We applied for the grant because it is such a helpful initiative. We probably would have been really stretched to afford it without having the grant there to match what we invest. It's really relieved us financially and meant that we can focus on other things as well."

[VISUAL: Sophie showing two people around a cosy, furnished wooden lodge with glass windows looking over the lake. A final summary slide displays the Wychavon District Council logo and website link for business grant information as the video ends.]

You can apply for one of three grant bands. These differentiate between Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) and whether they are not yet trading or have been trading for less or more than 12 months.

Grant Bands

All grants require at least 50% match funding, meaning your grant request cannot exceed half of your total project cost.

The Growth Fund can support projects that strengthen your business and create local economic benefit. Examples include:

• The purchase of a piece of kit, for example a CNC machine that will allow the business to expand into a new market, thus creating new jobs.
• The purchase of a machine, for example to enable onsite packaging that will improve the efficiency of the business thus increasing productivity and in turn turnover.
• The creation or expansion of a workspace to accommodate new activity/employees.  Note that any building work projects must be discussed with the team before an application is submitted.
• Purchase of equipment; for example, freezers to support a dairy farm diversifying into ice cream production, resulting in increased turnover and job creation. Please note that projects aimed at increasing agricultural output (e.g., boosting raw milk production) are not eligible.
• The creation of facilities to enable a fishing lake to become a swimming lake. Note that any building work projects must be discussed with the team before an application is submitted.
• Projects which develop the local experiential tourism/immersive travel offer (focused on showcasing local history, people, culture, food and environment), for example the purchase of new machinery and/or equipment necessary to delivering the experience.
• Accessibility enhancements to tourist attractions, for example the installation of a Changing Places facility.
• Adding something new to the tourism business and/or area, for example an outdoor shelter to develop/improve the out of season offer.
• Enhancement of hospitality businesses, such as restaurants, pubs, cafés and hotels, including investment in specialist equipment or improved facilities that support business expansion, increased capacity, improved customer experience, or the introduction of new food and drink services.

If you're unsure whether your project meets the criteria, feel free to contact us.

To apply, your business must:

• Be an SME based in Wychavon. This includes micro, small and medium sized enterprises which have fewer than 250 employees and either a turnover of £44 million or less, or a balance sheet total of £38 million or less.
• Show that your project supports business growth.
• Provide 50% or more match funding.
• Contact us before applying if your project involves building works or planning considerations.

When assessing whether your business or organisation is an SME, you should consider any affiliated businesses or organisations. These are entities connected through ownership, control, or significant shared interest.

Start‑ups (operating under a new legal entity and not yet trading or trading less than 12 months) must also:

• Have completed recognised business start‑up training, or demonstrate equivalent experience
• Provide a business plan

If you cannot confirm all eligibility criteria, unfortunately you will not be able to apply.

The Growth Fund cannot support:

• Solar panels or related equipment
• Marketing, promotional and branding activities, including website development, unless undertaken by a start‑up, in which case all of these activities are eligible where they support business growth
• Vehicles
• Legal/statutory obligations
• Insurance
• Staffing costs
• Running costs (rent, utilities, subscriptions etc.)
• Mandatory skills training
• Debt repayment
• Items purchased before the grant offer letter
• Tourist accommodation units (pods, lodges, glamping units)
• Purchases made using finance or hire purchase
• Projects that enhance the productive capacity of farms or primary agricultural producers, including machinery, equipment, or activities that directly increase on-farm agricultural output. Note: This exclusion applies only to projects undertaken by farms or businesses directly engaged in primary agricultural production and does not apply to businesses that supply goods or services to the agricultural sector, provided those businesses are not themselves carrying out agricultural production
• Activities that may bring the Council into disrepute

A list of other ineligible costs is included in the application form and guidance.

• Applications are completed online.
• You’ll confirm eligibility, then provide details about your business, finances, project and match funding.
• You will need 1–3 quotes depending on the value of each costed item.
• Existing businesses upload accounts; start‑ups upload a business plan.

Projects must not begin until funding has been approved.

When completing your application, you will need to upload several supporting documents. These will vary depending on your business status and the amount of funding you are requesting. The list below gives an indication of what may be required, but please refer to the application guidance for full details.

• Full set of accounts or a business plan
• Lease or tenancy agreement (if applicable)
• Planning permission or other required consents (if applicable)
• Quotations for all costed items
• Photographs, diagrams or site plans (optional but encouraged)

Your application will undergo a three stage assessment process.

• Stage 1: Initial review to check all required information and documents are provided. Applicants may be contacted for more details.
• Stage 2: Eligibility and due‑diligence checks covering financial health, compliance, and alignment with programme aims.
• Stage 3: Independent scoring by experienced officers against key criteria, including:
• Need for the project
• Value for money and procurement
• Market need
• Financial viability
• Return on investment
• Project deliverability and sustainability
• For grants £5,001–£15,000: Two independent appraisers and a senior‑level appraisal panel review the application.
• Conflicts of interest are declared, and an audit trail ensures fairness and transparency.

Unsuccessful applicants will receive feedback and can request a review in specific circumstances.

• Decisions for grants up to £5,000 are made by the Economic Development Programme Manager or Head of Economic Development.
• Larger grants (£5,001–£15,000) are decided by the Director of Economy & Environment and the Executive Board Member for Economic Growth and Tourism.
• All applicants are notified of the outcome.
• Unsuccessful applicants can request a review under specific circumstances:
  • the decision was based on an error of fact;
  • the decision was wrong in law; or
  • a procedural error has been made.

If approved:

• We will confirm whether the award counts as a subsidy under MFA rules
• You may need to sign an MFA declaration
• A Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) will be issued
• You must not start the project until the GFA is signed
• Claims are paid in arrears once invoices and proof of payment are submitted

Please note: Work completed before the GFA is signed may not be eligible for funding.