The Prince’s Countryside Fund 2016

The Prince’s Countryside Trust is a charity set up by The Prince of Wales.  Their vision is:

“A confident, robust and sustainable agricultural and rural community which is universally appreciated for its vital contribution to our British way of life and fit to support future generations”.

Growing Rural Enterprise were awarded a grant to support farmers in Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

We helped farmers who are struggling to be sustainable by looking at their existing resources and exploring new ways of working. The project provided business mentoring, networking and training.

Approximately fifty farms that do not usually access services, support or training will each had 2 or 3 days of one-to-one business mentoring and support from SEFDI accredited rural business advisers who have 15 years experience in working with hard to reach farmers.

They were encouraged through situational analysis, options analysis and action planning to consider options and alternatives such as better routes to market, making more from existing resources, shortening the supply chain, working with others in partnerships and collaborations to create a future business model that is sustainable. This was delivered through business mentoring/support and sometimes, additionally, through training and networking.