DO you have a project idea that will create jobs and boost the local economy?

Farmers, foresters, growers, small businesses and rural communities are now bidding for a share of a £1.6m fund across the East Hampshire, Havant, Winchester and Eastleigh rural areas. Grants have already been awarded since the programme re-opened last October.

Organisers want to hear proposals for projects that will create jobs, increase farm or forestry productivity and efficiency, develop new markets, increase visitor spend in the area, or provide an essential rural service.

Fieldfare LEADER has scheduled five new calls for applications that cover land economy, visitor economy, local food and drink, rural communities and small and medium-sized enterprises, and farm diversification.

The grants are available as part of Defra’s Rural Development Programme for England and LEADER is the method of delivering funding to projects through local action groups, ensuring that individuals with local knowledge are involved in key decisions about how funds are spent.

Fieldfare is a not-for-profit group that brings together people from rural businesses, farming and rural communities with the aims of supporting economic growth and improving quality of life. The group was established in 2007 to deliver rural development.

For more details, visit fieldfareleader.org.uk, call Ken Brown on 01962 848 588, or e-mail [email protected].