Rural England Prosperity Fund - Round 2

Funding Round 2 – Supporting Rural Communities via Local Arts, Cultural, Heritage and Creative Activities 

Are you a community organisation looking for capital funding to bring a project to life that would benefit your rural community in Redcar & Cleveland? If so, we could help. 

The Rural Fund provides capital grants of between £3k and £15k for local arts, cultural, heritage and creative activities. 

In Tees Valley, the Rural Fund can only be used to finance capital projects in defined eligible rural areas* of Redcar and Cleveland. 

The total funding available in this funding round is £134,053. 

When and how can you apply? 

Applications are to be submitted online.  

Assessment and scoring of applications will be undertaken by the grant panel. The grant panel will consist of Tees Valley Combined Authority, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Tees Valley Rural Action and the Federation of Small Businesses with oversight by the Tees Valley Business Board.  Eligible applications will be assessed and scored using a set scoring matrix based on the eligibility criteria and responses in the application process.   

The online application form and other supporting documents can be found at the bottom of this web page. 

Eligibility and administrative boundaries 

Eligibility and administrative boundaries for the Rural Fund are set by Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and not by Tees Valley Combined Authority.  

*Rural areas are defined as: 

• Towns, villages, and hamlets with populations below 10,000 and the wider countryside. 
• Market or ‘hub towns’ with populations of up to 30,000 that serve their surrounding rural areas as centres of employment and in providing services. 

The postcode of the project activity must be in a rural eligible area. Eligibility is not based on the postcode of the business / organisation making the application, unless this is also where the project activity is taking place.    

Eligible areas for the Rural Fund can be identified using Defra’s ‘Magic Maps’ tool. 

Applicants must complete a postcode check to confirm project eligibility prior to completion of the application form using Defra’s ‘Magic Maps’ tool below.