Duchess of Edinburgh celebrates Northumberland rural groups after £387,000 boost
The Duchess of Edinburgh celebrated rural community organisations from Northumberland and Cumbria following a £387,000 funding boost.
On September 8, The Duchess met members of rural community groups at an event run by The Royal Countryside Fund (RCF) at the Rheged Centre, Penrith.
The RCF is a UK-wide charity that works alongside rural communities and farming families to provide the support and funding they need to thrive, and the event represented the culmination of a multi-year investment to support rural communities in these two counties.
This place-based funding programme, launched in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund in 2024, provided a total of £387,000 in funding to 16 diverse community-led groups from rural areas across Cumbria and Northumberland.
As part of the programme, the groups met regularly to share ideas and resources. This latest event provided an opportunity to celebrate the successes of the programme and brought everyone together again to plan for the future.
Projects funded as part of the programme ranged from community transport, food security and youth leadership initiatives to environmental skills training, community emergency resilience and local enterprise development.
The funding was designed to help rural communities build local capacity, strengthen connections, develop new skills and create longer-term pathways towards greater self-sufficiency and resilience.
Keith Halstead, RCF Chief Executive, said: “We’ve had the great privilege of working alongside so many passionate and energetic community groups across Cumbria and Northumberland over the last two years.
"What these organisations have achieved in that time is remarkable and inspiring, and this latest event and visit from HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate that.
“This programme has been a brilliant opportunity to advance the RCF’s role to promote community-led solutions. Every community is different and local people know best of all what they need and what will work in their area. "
Gillian Halliwell, Senior Head of Regions – North at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We’re proud to have funded this unique collaboration that handed power over to isolated rural communities, allowing them to access exactly what they need.
“Thanks to National Lottery players, the sixteen funded groups are leading lasting change. Communities are stronger, more sustainable, and better able to address the local issues they face every day.”