The Farmer Network  has been awarded £358,874 in funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

The Farmer Network will use their funding to further develop their provision in Cumbria and create a new Northumberland Farmer Network

This new National Lottery funding will support the farming community in hard-to-reach areas. The project, which began last month, will work local farmers and their families who seek better connectivity within their community with the aim to increase local skills and employability, build resilience and support farmers in adopting sustainable and climate friendly ways of farming whilst remaining a profitable.

The National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund funding has a positive impact and makes a difference to people’s lives. The fund supports projects focussed on things that matter, including economic prosperity, employment, young people, mental health, loneliness and helping the UK reach NET Zero by 2050.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. The National Lottery Community Fund distributes a share of this to projects to support people and communities to prosper and thrive.

Where we began…

Five years ago, following conversations with farmers in Northumberland, it was clear that there was interest in the creation of a  Farmer Network and a gap in support for farmers in western Cumbria. After several consultation meetings with farmers across the county, it seemed that the idea of a farmer- led, farmer- run network to support the farming community in every challenge and every opportunity, had struck a chord.

As an independent, not for profit company supporting farmers, their families and their businesses, The Farmer Network, helped local farmers form a small steering group with a view to securing major funding to support the creation of a new network.

What next?

The Farmer Network will create a farmer management council of up to 10 farmers from across the county, employ farm coordinators in Cumbria and Northumberland, engage with partner organisations to support the farming community, and begin to hold meetings, on- farm events and develop other member services.

Adam Day, Managing Director, The Farmer Network said:

“With thanks to the National Lottery Players, this grant means that we can build our relationships much wider where we can bring people together, offer business support and improve well-being for the farming community. The new network will be run by famers for the benefit of farmers. Our job is to facilitate and help manage the process. This is an exciting time for our organisation and will make a big difference to people’s lives.”

 

About The National Lottery Community Fund

The National Lottery Community Fund are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we support people and communities to prosper and thrive.

We are proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.

Our funding has a positive impact and makes a difference to people’s lives. We support projects focussed on things that matter, including economic prosperity, employment, young people, mental health, loneliness and helping the UK reach NET Zero by 2050.

Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £43 billion has been raised for good causes. National Lottery funding has been used to support over 635,000 projects - 255 projects per postcode area.

With special thanks to National Lottery players.

 

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