Funding Set To Boost Community Projects

Community organisations in rural areas of Redcar & Cleveland are being urged to secure grants of up to £15,000 to help boost arts and culture.

The total funding available in this round of the Rural England Prosperity Fund is £134,053 to help bring local arts, cultural, heritage and creative projects to life in parts of the borough.

Applications are now open for capital grants of between £3,000 and £15,000, and will close at 5pm on 2 April.

Examples of projects include increasing provision of maker spaces; local art galleries, museums or libraries for altering premises or providing spaces for exhibitions; and capital grants to enable cultural, heritage and creative events and provision for venues for locally led music and theatre performances.

Schemes that have already received funding from other Defra schemes will not be eligible.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “We’re transforming Teesside, and that means even the smaller communities that sometimes go overlooked. Cash to provide these new spaces will help encourage local people and visitors to experience our entire region, outside of only our main centres.

“This means rural businesses of all types can benefit from increased spending, while making our area an even better place to live.”

The Rural England Prosperity fund is fully funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

To find out more, check whether your area is eligible under the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) Magic Maps tool, or apply for funding, visit www.teesvalley-ca.gov.uk/rural-fund-2