West Norfolk Leader

So, what is West Norfolk LEADER?

It is a new funding scheme that brings money into the area to support rural businesses and organisations.  It can help projects to set up new or expand existing businesses, help farms become more productive,  create new tourism activities, improve access to services for rural communities, enhance and promote cultural heritage assets, or increase the productivity of our forests.

And there is just over £1.5m funding in the pot to support these kind of projects from now until 2020.

How does it work?

Funding is managed through the West Norfolk Local Action Group, (supported by Norfolk County Council).  This is a group of local people that represent the area and can include businesses and community members or sector representatives.  Currently there are 16 people sitting on the local action group – but we need more. The Chair of the group is  Lynn Collison, who has a background in food processing, horticulture, agriculture and rural tourism and currently runs a rural and agri-food development business with her husband, and is also a breeder of prize-winning specialist sheep. The Local Action Group drives the programme forward, through seeking bids and projects that can help them fulfil their priorities for funding, set out in their original bid.

Member commitment is one meeting each quarter, which lasts approximately two hours, and is held at a local venue within West Norfolk.  More information about membership and forms can be found here.

Looking for funding?

The first port of call for projects is to review the applicant handbook to see if your project could be eligible, and then read the priorities for funding for West Norfolk.  If you believe your project could qualify for funding, you can complete an outline application and submit it as instructed on this page, or give us a call on 01603 222930  if you have questions.