Lesbury Community Shop awarded nearly £20,000 to help grow its role in the local community
A village shop at the heart of its community has been awarded nearly £20,000.
Lesbury Community Shop Ltd, a community-owned and run, non-profit-taking venture, has been awarded £19,365.
The funding, via The Royal Countryside Fund (RCF) in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund, will enable the shop to create a complete annual event programme, with dedicated days to support local charities, groups and craftspeople.
Elsewhere in Northumberland, The Nurture Project CIC, a community interest company which provides educational outdoor experiences, has been awarded £30,000. This funding will go towards a new project to enhance community cohesion through connecting with nature.
Rural Design Centre Ltd, a not-for-profit centre which works with a range of rural stakeholders to understand business support and innovation activities, has been awarded £29,700. This funding will allow the centre to co-design and pilot a new community-led rural enterprise service.
This latest funding is part of the RCF’s first county-based programme, targeting rural organisations in Cumbria and Northumberland which have the potential to ‘power up, not prop up’ their communities.
Keith Halstead, executive director, The Royal Countryside Fund, said: “We’re all very excited to work closely with these fantastic Northumberland organisations to see how they put their collective ideas in place to shape the future of their local communities. We’re incredibly grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund for their support in this partnership.”
Duncan Nicholson, regional head of funding for North East & Cumbria at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We are proud to be working in partnership with The Royal Countryside Fund to support organisations in rural Northumberland to improve lives in their local communities.”