Clare Balding showcases grants at LEADER Forum 2011

What: North Wessex Downs LEADER Grant Forum
When: Thursday 17th February 2011, 09.30am – 1.30pm
Where: Hungerford Town Hall, Hungerford

With grants of up to £50,000 available, this annual gathering was targeted at farmers, foresters, rural businesses and communities based within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty who are seeking funding to develop their businesses or provide facilities for the benefit of their local area.

At this year’s event we were delighted to have Clare Balding as a guest speaker who used her expert interviewing skills to draw out real experiences from three very different LEADER grantees. Clare dug deep to find out how they found the LEADER process, what difference they made locally, and reveal some useful advice for budding enterprises.

Having grown up in Kingsclere, Clare has a strong personal link to the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and explains: “Every time I travel home from London, I feel a strong spiritual connection to the landscape and believe we have a strong responsibility as landowners.” Clare continues: “What excites me about the LEADER grants is that they reward invention and loyalty to the landscape. If we feed back in, we have more to feed on. LEADER grants also help to save both countryside and community. Obviously there has to be a careful balance between making a living and protecting the landscape but the trick is to maintain the best of the past and the best of the present to make a better future.”

As Chairman of the North Wessex Downs LEADER Local Action Group, Ian Ritchie explains: “We have helped new businesses get off the ground; supported existing businesses make major investment in the latest equipment and technology; assisted communities to improve local amenities and helped create many new jobs. We have around £1million to award and are looking to invest in more such opportunities in the next two years.”

If you have a seed of an idea and think that up to £50,000 could help you, please go to our website www.northwessexleader.org.uk and download an Expression of Interest form or for more information, contact Corinna Woodall, LEADER Programme Manager on 01488 680456, email corinna.woodall@wiltshire.gov.uk

From left to right, image shows previous LEADER grantees being awarded certificates of completion of their project (bracketed):

Clare McMurray (Three Trees Farms)
William Betts (Hamsptead Norreys Community Shop)
Pamela Betts (Hamsptead Norreys Community Shop)
Clare Balding
Oliver Rowlands (Seasoned Timber Company)
Gary McMurray (Three Trees Farms) – stage right of Clare
Michael Rowlands (Seasoned Timber Company)

Clare Balding with previous grant recipients at this years LEADER Grant Forum

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