DON'T MISS: £35 million of funding available to rural businesses within England

Rural Tourism Infrastructure

Projects which involve creating new accommodation such as glamping pods, and converting redundant buildings are eligible for funding on the basis a market need and demand is illustrated in the application.

Creating new visitor attractions and tourist linked projects are also eligible. Funding ranges from £20,000 to £175,000 (€200,000) or 40% of project costs.

Projects that encourage more overnight stays and increase the number of visitors to rural areas will increase their success in securing grant funding.

Priorities

National and Local Priorities must be achieved when applying for grant funding. Job creation, accessing new markets, boosting the rural economy and achieving wider benefits are all key priorities.

These outputs should be illustrated in an application.

Process

The Growth Programme is a two-stage application process.

1. Expression of Interest (EOI)

The deadline to submit an EOI is 16th February 2020. It is important to justify why funding is required and how the project will achieve both the National and Local Priorities.

2. Full application stage

If successful, the proposed project will be invited to the full application stage. The stage can take between 2-3 months to obtain all the necessary supporting documents.