The Prince’s Countryside Fund has awarded five emergency grants to farming and rural community support groups across Wales who are providing assistance to counter the effects of isolation during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The beneficiaries include:
- Builth Wells Community Support
- CETMA
- Llandovery Youth and Community Centre
- Llanwrtyd Community Transport
- Menter y Plu
The Fund received nearly 300 applications for assistance, and thanks to generosity of its corporate partners, players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the Royal Warrant Holders Association Charitable Trust, and the Barbour Foundation, were able to release £120,963 in funding to 62 projects, benefitting people living and working in rural areas.
Founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2010, the Fund’s mission is to help ensure a vibrant rural economy with a thriving and resilient farming sector at its heart, and its grant programme is a major focus of activity to achieve this. The Prince’s Countryside Fund awards grants to local organisations, and since 2010 has distributed over £10 million in funding.
Llandovery Youth and Community Centre said: “We were delighted to receive funding from The Prince’s Countryside Fund. This has enabled us to meet the needs of so many people in our community via our foodbank and also provide art/craft/gardening kits for children and adults with whom we work. Mental health problems are seen as a critical factor in the current situation and these kits have been so warmly received and brought great joy to everyone.”
Announcing the grant recipients, Claire Saunders, Director of The Prince’s Countryside Fund said: “These small rural organisations are the lifeblood of many far-flung communities. They have adapted to provide unprecedented support to rural people, quickly, and efficiently, with the help of a dedicated army of local volunteers. We are so grateful to all our sponsors, who by supporting The Prince’s Countryside Fund, have enabled the provision of these Rural Response Emergency Grants during this crisis.”
