Just because you live in a rural area doesn't mean you should live without key services. Strengthening Rural Communities across the North West is a grant programme to work with the rural communities to help improve and grow the local services available to their residents.

Strengthening Rural Communities across the North West is targeted at communities where local rural services and economic activity need a boost. These communities have been identified through a mapping process that examines their existing level of services and their location within economically deprived areas of the region.

We understand community initiatives come in all shapes and sizes as they are tailor made to suit their specific community; therefore, Strengthening Rural Communities across the North West has two different funding opportunities: the Community Initiative Fund and the Community Enterprise Fund. Please click on these links to find out more about these funds and to check your eligibility

To name just a few examples, these services could be as diverse as community-owned or voluntary:

• shops, pubs, cafés
• childcare facilities
• IT capabilities
• financial services
• waste management and recycling
• care services for elderly or disabled residents
• development of village halls into multi-service outlets