RURAL initiatives in the Dales have received a right royal boost with the announcement that the Prince’s Countryside Fund is to invest a total of £133,936 in projects which have an impact in the area.

The fund, which has contributed £4.4 million in grants in the four years since its inception, was set up by the Prince of Wales to provide support to the multitude of remarkable organisations and individuals working tirelessly to keep farmers farming and our rural communities alive. The fund does not support the environment, buildings or wildlife but the people who manage and maintain the countryside.

As part of a £600,000 nationwide investment, funding will be directed as follows:

l £34,136 for the Farmer Network, which deals with access to training opportunities for young people.

The network covers Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales and aims to maintain and support a viable farming community, maximising rural income, and inform and educate, raising the profile of farming in Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales.

This project will help to fund the existing training voucher project, currently funded by the Prince’s Countryside Fund to benefit Farmer Network members aged 15 to 40 by offering a £200 voucher to subsidise the cost of technical training to help farmers meet the costs of certified courses such as ATV, tractor driving and pesticides use.

l £50,000 for Pub is the Hub, which tackles the decline of rural communities.

Established in 2001, Pub is the Hub encourages owners, local authorities, licensees and communities to work together on projects to retain essential rural services, wherever possible relocating them within a public house.

The funding will continue to deliver projects through seven Regional Advisory Hubs and Local Community Services Champions programmes with the aim of progressing schemes, including one in Craven.

l £49,800 for SRUC to tackle low farming incomes.

The aim of Scotland’s Rural College is to enhance the rural economy and environment by providing education and training, advisory and consultancy work on an extensive range of subjects with particular emphasis on food, environment and rural resource.

This project will support 15 farm businesses in the Yorkshire Dales with a detailed business review. An additional 28 farmers will receive one to one support and 60 more will attend meetings to form a collaborative working group in the longer term.

Helen Aldis, manager at the Prince’s Countryside Fund, said: “These grants will help to maintain and support a sustainable farming and rural community in Britain through the provision of vital education and training, which will not only equip young people will the skills required to succeed in important rural careers, but also provide existing farmers and rural businesses with much needed financial and business support to remain viable and grow.

“The projects we are funding aim to tackle some of the challenges our rural communities are facing. The farming industry has warned of a skills shortage if the 60,000 new entrants we need in the next decade are not found. We must also grasp the opportunity to increase the quantity of British produced food to reduce our reliance on imported food, which is currently at 40 per cent.

“The Prince’s Countryside Fund, with the help of our marvellous supporting companies, is proud to support the people, organisations and communities working to protect and ensure a long-term future for British farming, agriculture and the wider rural economy.”

Since 2010, The Prince’s Countryside Fund has given grants to support 140 rural communities by improving service provision, 3,400 farm businesses through funding projects that work directly with farmers to improve efficiency and profitability and 880 rural enterprises through supporting innovative rural business projects. 4,380 young people have benefitted from projects offering training opportunities and 18,000 children will be educated in food and farming in a sustainable countryside.