Basic services in rural areas
More than £7 million of RDPE funding has been allocated to this
theme, targeted in two ways;
- A grant to support projects from community and social
enterprises for the improved delivery of, and access to, basic
services
- Advice and support for community and social enterprises that
deliver basic services, in order to improve their overall
viability
In this context, a community or social enterprise is defined
as:
"A community or social enterprise is a formally constituted
group or business which trades primarily for social purposes rather
than being driven by the need to maximise profits. Whilst
governance and legal structures will vary, they exist for the
benefit of the local community, either to promote a particular
activity or service or to achieve a set of socially based
objectives."
Grants
A grant programme is available to directly support the provision
or delivery of basic services. Where this would help to secure
and/or broaden the range of services available the grant can be
used for;
- the creation or development of community and social
enterprises
- the development of community buildings
All grant requests will be assessed against viability,
sustainability and value for money criteria and any grant offer
will be based on this appraisal. Levels of grant awarded may
exceptionally be up to 100% of the eligible costs.
How do I apply for the grants?
There are two stages to the application process.
The first is the initial expression of interest stage which
gives potential applicants an opportunity to put forward an outline
of the key ingredients of their proposals. This will allow them to
receive feedback before they make a detailed full application.
The second stage is to complete a full application giving
details of the project. Applicants with a well-worked up project
proposal can submit it directly to the South West RDA for
consideration. However, it may be appropriate for either the
enterprise itself, or the project, to be referred to the business
support or facilitation service, in order to improve the viability
of the project before formal application and/or assessment.
Expression of interest
Full application
The postal address is:
RDPE Team
South West RDA
Sterling House
Dix's Field
Exeter
EX1 1QA
Advice and support
Can I access the support now?
The full business support service will be available shortly and
a project facilitation service, to help would-be applicants to
develop their projects, will be available from March 2010. In
the meantime the South West RDA will accept expressions of interest
and contact potential applicants to discuss whether they require
support to develop a full application.
Frequently Asked Questions
A series of Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQs) and the responses to them are available
here. These will continue to be updated in response to new
queries.