The Princes Countryside Fund Announces Crisis Funding for Farming Charities

The Princes Countryside Fund has announced today that it will be giving 40,000 from the emergency relief fund to ARC Addington and Farm Crisis Network following the recent problems affecting the farming industry. Designed to provide immediate support to farming charities, the money will be drawn from a special emergency funding stream set aside by The Princes Countryside Fund.

ARC Addington will be given 25,000 the majority of which will be used by The Trustees Discretionary Fund. This exists to help viable farming businesses with a grant, when they experience financial hardship due to unexpected circumstances. Following the poor season for forage production and much higher consumption than budgeted due to harsh weather, applications for grants have risen by 350% as farmers struggle with cash flow problems and cannot purchase animal feed stuffs.

In addition 15,000 will go to Farm Crisis Network whose case work has doubled as a result of the delay to many farmers Single Farm Payment. This delay to a critical part of many farming families income has tipped them into financial difficulty and resulting cash flow issues are causing real problems.

The Princes Countryside Fund was set up in July 2010 by Business in the Community and is the brainchild of The Prince of Wales who has a long-held commitment to supporting Britains hard pressed rural areas. The Fund is raising money from a wide range of businesses who have responded to The Princes call to action to improve the long-term viability of the British countryside and its rural communities. The intention is to inspire other businesses and the general public to get involved and recognise the importance of the countryside to the nations well-being and the wider British economy.

The funding raised has been channelled into providing grants to projects, large and small, that are delivering the three core objectives of The Princes Countryside Fund. These objectives focus on improving the sustainability of British farming and rural communities (targeting the areas of greatest need), reconnecting consumers with countryside issues; and supporting farming crisis charities through a reserved portion of funding.

Says Ian Bell, Fund Director ARC Addington This timely support from The Prince’s Countryside Fund comes at a critical period for some livestock farmers as they struggle to feed their animals. There is nothing more distressing to a stock farmer than not being able to care for animals properly.

Says Sarah Brown, Executive Director, Farm Crisis Network “With one in four farmers living on or below the poverty line the delay to the payment that keeps many producing our food, caring for our livestock and maintaining our natural environment is nothing short of a disaster. For some it is like their whole year’s salary being on hold while animals still need feeding, crops still need planting and work still needs doing! The resulting increase in FCN casework is extremely challenging so this contribution from The Princes Countryside Fund is brilliantly timed and will help us keep helping farming families who need support getting through a serious crisis.”

Members of the general public who would like to help can make a donation over the counter at The Post Office or via our Text Service. Please text PCF to 70300 and a 3 donation will be made automatically to The Princes Countryside Fund.

• For further media enquiries please contact: Victoria Elms, Programme Manager of The Princes Countryside Fund on Victoria.elms@bitc.org.uk or tel: 07779 222481

• Decisions about which projects to fund are made by an independent Board of Trustees. The trustees are Mark Price (Managing Director, Waitrose), Edwin Booth (Chairman, E.H. Booths & Co), Lizzie Kershaw (Group Director of Publishing, National Magazine Company), Brian Stein (Group Chief Executive, Samworth Brothers), Sir Don Curry (Chairman, NFU Mutual), Sue Huggins OBE (Director of Network Development, The Post Office), Mark Allen (Chief Executive, Dairy Crest), Elizabeth Buchanan (Consultant and farmer), Stephen Dunmore (Chair, CapacityBuilders), and Paul Murphy (CEO, Jordans & Ryvita).
• Businesses supporting The Princes Countryside Fund & products showing their support: Asda (milk), Birds Eye (frozen peas), Country Life (butter and milk), Duchy Originals, Booths (Herdwick and Saltmarsh lamb), Ginsters (Original Cornish Pasty), Hovis (bread), Jordans (Muesli, porridge, granola), Marks & Spencer (fresh British beef), McDonalds (communications materials), Morrisons (fresh lamb), PepsiCo (Red Sky crisps), United Biscuits (McVities Digestives, Chocolate Digestives), Waitrose (milk), Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Twinings.
• The next round of funding will go live on 18 April 2011. Details of how to apply can be found on www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk
• Business in the Community stands for responsible business. We are a business-led charity with a growing membership of 850 companies, from large multinational household names to small local businesses and public sector organisations. We advise, support and challenge our members to create a sustainable future for society and to improve business performance. Our members work with us to define what responsibility looks like in the workplace, marketplace, community and the environment – and we share what we learn about driving performance through responsible business practice. Business in the Community is one of The Princes Charities, a group of not-for-profit organisations of which The Prince of Wales is President. We work locally, nationally and internationally through a network of partners world-wide and have 29 years experience of working with communities in greatest need. www.bitc.org.uk