Deadline for Expression of Interest 12 noon on Monday 22nd June 2026
Capital grants from £1,000 up to £49,999 with an average award of around £15,000 are being made available to rural micro and small businesses in Cumbria to support the purchase of new equipment and small-scale capital improvements to help businesses to grow, startup, diversify, innovate and improve productivity.
Specifically, grant funding aims to:
Support businesses to overcome the challenges facing them and respond positively to opportunities, for example by providing funding to support cost reductions, productivity enhancements and growth
Grow businesses: grants help rural businesses invest in equipment, facilities, or technology, increasing productivity, turnover and resilience
Create jobs: capital funding will in turn support new hires and apprenticeships, reducing local economic inactivity
Diversify the rural economy: encourage non-traditional enterprises, visitor economy, creative industries, and agri-businesses, making rural economies more resilient and impactful
Support new startups: encourage new businesses to start and recently formed businesses to grow through derisking early-stage capital investment
Attract investment: successful grant-funded projects will leverage additional private or public investment
The Ernest Cook Trust is offering an Outdoor Essentials Grant - an award to UK state-funded Schools to remove barriers and enable pupils to connect to nature and learn outdoors. This current round of funding is open to Secondary Schools only (including Special Schools that work with secondary-age…
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda, and a significant component of its support for places across the UK. It provides £2.6 billion of new funding for local investment by March 2025. Funding for UKSPF is available for capital and…
Farmers, landowners or land-based businesses can apply for vouchers worth up to £500 towards the cost of advice from a consultant of their choice. The vouchers are being administered by Cumbria Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the Cumbrian Local Authorities with funding from the Rural England…
The new Land + Nature Skills Service (LANSS) for Cumbria will be officially launching at the Westmorland County Show on Wednesday 11th September at 3pm.
Additionally, the LANSS team will have a stand at both the Farmer Network stand (G239) and the Learning for Life…
