What is “LEADER”?

LEADER is a European Union funded programme which supports innovative and sustainable local rural development projects.  LEADER is actually an acronym for  “Liaison Entre Actions de Développement Économique” which shows its European roots. North Notts has £1.33 million in investment grants to distribute before the project ends in 2013.

Who can apply?

The Local Action Group is keen that the LEADER Programme is as accessible as possible to organisations, businesses, community groups and the wider public.

Applications for financial assistance will be accepted from:

• Businesses that wish to improve the rural economy
• Constituted community groups
• Public organisations and agencies
• Partnerships, trusts, and other non-governmental organisations
• Social enterprises
• Collaborative business / community networks (constituted groups).

There are also a few rules to where your business can be based. The wards of Newark and Worksop are unfortunately exempt from the funding. If your business is based in either of those two towns, you will not be able to apply for funding.  Please see here for details.

How much is available?

LEADER works on a matched funding basis. This means that up to 50% of a projects total cost is available. The ‘matched funding’  should be in place before you apply to LEADER. This means that you should be able to provide the other 50% of the project costs yourself. The smallest amount you can apply for is £3,500, that means that with matched funding your project should cost at least £7,000. We have no upper limit to the amount you can apply for, but due to reduced funding we would suggest the 20-30k in funding is an appropriate upper limit to apply for.

What type of projects does LEADER fund?

LEADER funding is available for a large number of different projects. However, they must in some way benefit the rural economy.  There are many ways a project could do this.  For example, it could support the rural economy through increased employment in the area, increasing tourism or maintaining a listed building. It could also be used to pull business into the local area or be a diversification of your current business.

What type of activities are eligible?

LEADER can fund many activities including training, events, feasibility studies, facilitators, networking, marketing, creation of rural business hubs, and adoption of new technologies. The types of project that can be supported include new tourism projects, cultural events, training courses, businesses services, new rural community services, youth projects and many others. For more eligibility criteria please see here.