Apply for a grant to aid business in rural areas

Two workshops are being held at Kirkley Hall.

Almost Â£10million of funding is available for businesses in the food processing, tourism and rural business development sectors.

The latest round of grants from the Rural Development Programme for England for the North East Local Enterprise Partnership area has been announced and totals £9.7million.

Applications are being sought for projects that will grow a business, create jobs or bring more money in to the rural economy. Grant funding can help pay for constructing or improving buildings and buying new equipment and machinery.

Three grant funds are available. These are rural business development grants; rural tourism infrastructure grants; and food processing grants.

Two workshops will be held at Kirkley Hall on Tuesday, February 14. One will cover tourism grants while a separate workshop will deal with rural business development and food-processing grants. Another will be held in Durham two days later.

To book a place at one of the workshops or for details, visit tinyurl.com/jjemmnw

There is no deadline for applicants as the calls are open until January 2018, although applications are reviewed every three months.