South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

SEEDA's Rural Development Programme for England - open for business

Release date: 11 September 2009

SEEDA is funding a number of projects under the Rural Development Programme for England to provide training support in the South East. For example:

• Livestock Health South East
• LandSkills South East (incl some Fresh Start academy elements)
• Fresh Start (Rural Development Programme for England – European Union funding stream)
• Leader Local Action Groups.

We also offer the expertise of our RDPE team to administer the programmes and provide strategic support to rural development in the South East.

Rural businesses also have access to the Business Link services throughout the region, where expert advisers can help with a range of issues including access to finance and helping business grow.

Contact: Business Link, tel: 0845 600 9006

For more information please refer to the programme details below or contact the Rural team at SEEDA on: 01483 484 207/297

Livestock Health South East is an innovative approach to improve animal health and welfare across the South East of England. Livestock farmers are able to access the most up-to-date information to help them maintain and improve the health of their stock, ensuring the sustainability of farming in the region. Farmers can choose to attend meetings and discussion groups, complete on-line training and receive one-to-one veterinary advice, all tailored to meet their needs.

The Livestock Health South East programme is being managed by the Westpoint Veterinary Group and involves a number of other training providers including the NFU, EBLEX, BPEX, Dairy Co, Kingshay, NADIS and ADAS. To date, Livestock Health South East has delivered training courses on a variety of subjects ranging from cattle mobility to sheep health planning. For more information please visit the website or contact the regional coordinator Lindsay Heasman.

Contact: info@livestockhealthsoutheast.org.uk, tel: 07549 843380

Landskills South East is an extensive vocational training programme targeted primarily at people engaged in agriculture, horticulture and forestry. Training is being delivered through a consortium of training providers in the region including Agricultural Colleges , Local Training Groups, Independent Trainers and Consultants and is heavily subsidised. The programme is managed by Lantra. To date, Landskills South East has delivered over 800 courses in the region enabling them to support nearly 4,000 farmers, foresters and growers.

For more information please visit the Landskills South East website or contact Shelley Newton who has been appointed as the regional coordinator.

Contact: LandSkillsSE@lantra.co.uk, tel: 01444 871436

Funding for Projects through LEADER and directly from SEEDA includes funding for farmers, foresters (woodland owners and contractors), horticulturalists, rural businesses and rural communities. For more information about the funding available under RDPE, please refer to RDPE pages on the SEEDA website, where you will also be able to read the latest issue of our RDPE newsletter.

www.seeda.co.uk/rdpe