Wychavon Rural Fund for communities

The Wychavon Rural Fund is being delivered by Wychavon District Council. The aim of the fund is to support communities to tackle issues and barriers to growth, particularly those associated with being in a rural area.

The funding comes from the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Any organisation with legal status can receive funding, including:

• micro and small enterprises
• voluntary organisations
• registered charities
• local authorities
• public sector organisations
• higher and further education institutions

Please note we cannot support projects that have received funding from other Defra schemes, including:

• The Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme
• The Farming Investment Fund

We are looking to support new capital projects (spending on actual things such as buildings, new woodland, play areas e.t.c) that bring something new to a community.

They must represent good value for money and be able to be completed by December 2024. We cannot fund staff costs, general operating expenses or services you are legally required to provide.

Projects should meet one or more of the following priorities:

Supporting Rural Communities (total grant pot £670,000)

1. Capacity building and infrastructure support for local civil society and community groups (for example community energy schemes, EV charging points).
2. Creation of and improvements to local rural green spaces (for example community gardens, green spaces).
3. Active travel enhancements in local areas (for example creation or upgrading of existing footpaths and cycle paths).
4. Improvements to town centres & high streets (for example shop improvements, lighting).
5. Community & neighbourhood infrastructure projects (for example community gardens, walking and cycling infrastructure).
6. Enhancing existing cultural, historic & heritage institutions offer (for example interpretation boards, arts venues).

Please refer to our Outputs and Outcomes Guidance for more information on how your project may meet one of the Wychavon Rural Fund priorities.

Please note we are not accepting applications from projects relating to building work or needing any form of planning permission during this round. 

Projects should not have already started before being approved for funding.

If you need more information or have a project that you are confident that can be delivered by December 2024 please use the details in the contact us section to get in touch for a discussion.

The project must be delivered in a rural area within the district of Wychavon (i.e. wards outside of Evesham, Pershore and Droitwich town centres). Please refer to the Wychavon Rural Map to check if your project is in a rural postcode.

How to use the map:

• Click on the link to the Wychavon Rural Map, enter details of the project location in the search box and select the location from the drop down options.
• Tick the box agreeing to the Terms and Conditions and press continue.
• Look at the box on the bottom right entitled Wychavon Rural Fund. This will tell you if the identified area is eligible for funding.

Note, you can also use the Map button at the top of the screen to show a wider area by selecting the Wychavon Rural Fund layer and zooming out.

Capital grants of between £2,500 and £25,000 are available.

Private sector organisations will be expected to match fund at least 50% of the project.

Public or voluntary sector organisations will be expected to match fund at least 30% of the project. 

The key dates for round five of the Wychavon Rural Fund are as follows:

• Expression of Interest deadline – 10th July 2024
• Full application deadline – 31^st July 2024
• Appraisal panel September 2024

Projects should take place between October 2024 and December 2024. Projects that have already started do not qualify for funding under the Wychavon Rural Fund.

We are not accepting any more applications for the Wychavon Rural Fund.

If you have already made an application, you will find information below about the assessment process.

How Full Applications are assessed

Full Applications will undergo an initial review by the Rural Fund Team to ensure all necessary information has been included.  You may be contacted for more information at this stage.

Complete Full Applications will be considered by the Wychavon Rural Fund Appraisal Panel which consists of local representatives with expertise and working knowledge of rural business and communities. 

The Wychavon Rural Fund Appraisal Panel will assess and score Full Applications against a range of selection criteria including:

• Strategic fit, including how the project fits with and delivers one or more of the priorities of the Rural Fund and how it will benefit the rural economy and/or community.
• The need for the project has been clearly identified and how it will address the issues/challenges identified by the business/community.
• Value for money and the need for public funding. The application will need to show that competitive quotes have been sought and costs represent value for money; that the level of grant sought will achieve a reasonable number of outputs and outcomes and what difference grant aid will make when compared to what would happen without grant aid. The financial viability of the business and the proposed project will also be assessed as part of this criterion.
• Project sustainability and impacts – how the project contributes to net zero and impacts on the environment and natural assets; that the project does not disadvantage anybody in terms of ethnicity, disability, age and gender.
• Deliverability – to ensure that the project can be successfully delivered on cost and on time.

Being invited to submit a full application is not a guarantee of grant funding.

The final decision

The Wychavon Rural Fund Appraisal Panel will make a recommendation to the Director of Economy and Environment and the Executive Board Member for Economic Growth and Tourism at Wychavon District Council who will decide if a Full Application is successful and if a grant offer can be made. The Rural Fund team will let applicants know whether or not they have been successful.

Unsuccessful applicants will receive a letter explaining the reasons why their application was unsuccessful. Applicants can ask for the decision on their application to be reviewed if they think that:

• the decision was based on an error of fact;
• the decision was wrong in law; or
• the Wychavon Rural Fund Appraisal Panel made a procedural error.

If you are not sure if your projects meets the qualifying criteria or need more information then please get in touch with our team, who will be happy to help.

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If you want to talk something through with us, please contact:

Georgina Muckle, UKSPF Support Officer on 01684 862270.

You can also contact our communities officers for help developing our ideas and guidance on what information we are looking for in your form.

Evesham and surrounding area

Ben Price

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.or call 07977 946734. 

Pershore and surrounding area

Branwen Bingle

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.or call 07977 947144. 

Droitwich and surrounding area (North Wychavon District)

Patrick Connelly

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.or call 07977 947143.

We are pleased to confirm a fourth round of the fund is now open for Expressions of Interest until 26 February 2024. Future rounds may be opened depending on the availability of funding.