Deadline: 05-Sep-2025
Applications are now open for the Rural England Prosperity Fund 2025, inviting eligible small businesses and rural communities in Tees Valley to apply for capital grants of £1,000–£15,000 to support productivity, strengthen the local economy, and enhance community infrastructure.
Supporting local business and communities, kickstarting economic growth, and breaking down barriers to opportunity. The fund focuses on rural businesses by supporting new and existing rural enterprises to develop products and facilities that benefit the local economy. It provides capital grants for small-scale interventions in micro and small enterprises, and for growing the local social economy, including community businesses, co-operatives, and social enterprises. For rural communities, the fund supports new and improved infrastructure, providing essential services and assets for local people and businesses, as well as capital grants for arts, cultural, heritage, and creative activities.
The Rural England Prosperity Fund, part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, is managed in Tees Valley by the Combined Authority in partnership with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. This capital grant programme aims to address the challenges unique to rural areas, such as lower productivity rates, limited connectivity, and reduced access to key services.
Eligible applicants include small businesses, social enterprises, co-operatives, and community organisations with fewer than 50 employees, planning capital-related investments in rural areas defined by Defra as towns, villages, hamlets under 10,000 population, or market towns up to 30,000 serving surrounding rural communities. Applicants must confirm eligibility using Defra’s ‘Magic Maps’ tool.
Grants can be used to develop new products, expand facilities, diversify income streams for farm or fishing businesses, enhance local social economies, or invest in community infrastructure. Arts, culture, heritage, and creative industries projects are explicitly supported under this scheme.
The Rural Fund allocation for Tees Valley is £187,000, offering capital grants ranging from £1,000 to £15,000. Successful projects will contribute to the government’s missions to kickstart economic growth and break down barriers to opportunity, supporting both the rural economy and communities.
For more information, visit Tees Valley.
