Storm Emma Relief Fund

At the end of March 2018, we launched the Storm Emma Relief Fund for farmers severely affected by the "Beast from the East". 

This scheme was funded by Cumbria Community Foundation and the Herdy Fund with our administration costs paid for by the Prince’s Countryside Fund.  The fund was in recognition of the hardship faced by households impacted by the extreme weather and was not a compensation scheme with awards typically of only £250 and £500, with a small number of the worst affected households getting £1,000.  In some cases, we had farms losing over 100 sheep under snow drifts with a lot of damage to dry stone walls, as well as the ewes that did survive being in very poor condition with high lamb losses.

The fund closed at the end of May 2018 and received over 80 applications with awards totalling just over £30,000.