NEW funding of £20,000 has been awarded to help enhance the health and wellbeing of Exmoor hill farmers, ease any rural isolation, and prepare the next generation.
It is part of £170,000 of Royal Countryside Fund (RCF) support for nine farming groups across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
The Exmoor Hill Farming Network is a ‘trusted partner’ of the RCF and embedded in the rural communities it serves.
Network manager Katherine Williams said: “The RCF funding is vital to the work we do to support our Greater Exmoor farming community.
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“From the range of services we provide, from training opportunities to peer support group facilitation, the funding from RCF has helped improve a wide range of skill sets, supporting local businesses.”
RCF executive director Keith Halstead said: “This funding is about powering-up family farms and giving them the support they need to survive and thrive.
“Our aim is to support rural communities across the UK, helping to sustain a living landscape of working family farms and prosperous rural life.
“Farming can be so different across the UK, so it is important to us that we support locally-run farm support groups who are embedded in the communities they serve and therefore know what will make the biggest difference in their local area.
“Farmers are currently facing a whole raft of challenges and we know it is a difficult time for so many families, so it is vital our funding goes to where it will make the most impact.
“The farm-support groups we have chosen to fund are truly innovative and collaborative organisations working with their local communities to find new and sustainable ways to build a better future.
“These are all community-led support groups which can help farmers find the right opportunities, look after their health and wellbeing, and promote sustainable, economic, social, and community development.
“I want to thank our supporters and corporate partners who help us fund this change.”
The RCF was founded by King Charles in 2010 while he was the Prince of Wales, and its Farm Support Group initiative is supported by Waitrose and Partners and the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust.