Cumbria County Council : News Releases : 2007 : August : 6/8/2007

Businesses, community groups and local initiatives across the county are being invited to apply for a share of £300,000 available from Cumbria County Council to help rural areas hang on to services.

The money comes from the Cumbria Rural Infrastructure Programme - CRISP - which was set up by the county council and Rural Regeneration Agency to boost local economies and help rural communities retain and create services such as childcare, shops, pubs and post offices.

CRISP cash has already helped many rural communities to establish new enterprises, create and sustain jobs and provide valuable training and volunteering opportunities.

This summer saw the opening of a CRISP-backed village store based at the Black Swan Hotel at Ravenstonedale - the village had been without a grocery shop for a decade. CRISP covered half the costs of converting a room at the pub into a shop selling groceries, including local produce and some local crafts.

Dozens of other ventures have already been supported with CRISP grants up to £25,000. Success stories include:

. £25k to create a new job in Brampton to improve community health.

. £20k towards renovating a house and providing 20 childcare places in Calthwaite.

. £15k to establish five community websites containing news, events, a directory and marketplace in the Alston area.

. £12k to develop a parish centre for community use in South Lakes.

. £9k towards providing low cost, good value Christmas hampers of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat to community co-operatives groups in deprived areas in North Cumbria.

Tim Heslop, county council cabinet member for economic development, said: "The fact that Cumbria is so big with sparsely populated areas means it can be a hard place to make things like shops, pubs and childcare services viable. But all these things are important aspects of the economy and of community life - particularly in the rural areas where they are hardest to hold on to.

"We set up the CRISP fund specifically to tackle some of Cumbria's rural sparsity issues. Sometimes it might a case of helping existing businesses by finding a way for them to host other services like putting post office services into pubs. Sometimes it might be about establishing new enterprises or expanding existing childcare facilities. But it is always about supporting the local economy and backing local services.

"CRISP money has already helped lots of good initiatives and we have £300,000 to support the right kind of projects so we want to hear from groups or individuals with good ideas that meet CRISP's community criteria."

Details of the CRISP grants scheme are included in the notes for editors section below and anyone wishing to discuss CRISP grants and the suitability of projects can call Catherine White at Cumbria County Council on 01228 606752 or e-mail catherine.white@cumbriacc.gov.uk

CRISP is a rural support programme financed by Cumbria County Council and Cumbria Vision that provides funding to community services in rural Cumbria. The programme was launched in 2005/06 and has so far supported 36 community projects.

CRISP has funding available until March 2008.

CRISP can provide up to 50% of project costs up to a maximum grant of £25,000. A three-year business plan is required. Applicants would not be expected to return to the fund for further funding during the life of that business plan. Applications for both capital and revenue funding can be made.

So far we have supported applications from various organisations from charitable trusts to private businesses and support has been given to a wide range of activities, including:

. Establishing or sustaining community services such as a village shop, pub or and post office.

. Relocating services into existing premises such as shops or post offices into village halls.

. Diversifying the use of community-owned property (the community centre etc) by hosting services, creating a multi-service 'hub' or using the property for trading activities.

. Establishing food co-ops to supply good quality food to rural areas.

. Establishing community transport schemes.

. Establishing new nurseries and expanding existing childcare facilities.

. Developing community websites.

Projects submitted for support by CRISP should:

. Be located in a rural area, or planning to initiate an activity which primarily benefits rural residents.

. Provide a service that will deliver identifiable benefits to rural residents suffering from economic or social exclusion.

. Demonstrate significant evidence of need and community consultation/support.

. Have the potential to achieve financial sustainability.

. Demonstrate that the applicants have the necessary skills and expertise to deliver the project and bring it to fruition.

. Ideally be working within or compliment local plans and strategies such as the Market Town Initiative or Parish Plans.

The CRISP programme was introduced to address some of the issues in rural Cumbria.

. In Cumbria 6.8% of households (8,600) live over 8 km from a bank or building society and 7.2 per cent (9,000) households live over 8 km from a petrol filling station. Compared to 3.3% and 1.7% in England.

Access to health services for residents is a particular issue. Those who live in communities without a branch or out-reach doctors surgery face travel distances well above the national averages.

. Nearly 10% of such households have to travel more than 8 km to a surgery, 1.5% in England.

. Over 25% of all settlements with no surgery are more than 12 km from a hospital compared with 18% across England as a whole.

. 17.6% of households in rural Cumbria do not have a car or van available for private use

. The average expenditure on motoring for rural households is about 35% higher than it is for urban households, and Local Authority spending per person on public transport is significantly lower in rural areas than urban areas.

Across rural England community groups are making increasing use of enterprise-based approaches to tackle this lack of access to services. Communities are taking over village shops and other key local businesses and reviving them to meet the real needs of their customers. Community facilities, such as village halls, are being run in more enterprising ways to reduce their dependence on grants and donations. And new social and community enterprises are being established with multiple social, environmental and economic aims. CRISP is helping to stimulate these activities.

For further information about the funding, as well as case studies or photographs of some of the previous award recipients, please contact:

6/8/2007 - £300,000 of CRISP cash available