Two new funds available to support projects that invest in Ceredigion

A Levelling up Fund and a Community Renewal Fund are being made available in Ceredigion. The funds are to help with projects that focus on investing in Ceredigion’s businesses, communities, infrastructure and developing skills of Ceredigion’s residents.

The funds are provided by the UK Government and will be administered by Ceredigion County Council.

The Levelling up Fund (LUF) will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets.

Ceredigion County Council has a vision of developing a strong and mature package of proposals that aligns strongly with the recently published Ceredigion Economic Strategy 2020 – 2035 and the LUF funding criteria for town centre regeneration stimulated by investment in cultural and heritage assets. The deadline for submitting applications for the LUF will be 10 May 2021.

The Community Renewal Fund (CRF) provided by the UK Government aims to help local areas trial ways of working that could inform future bids into the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022.

The fund is looking to support people and communities across the UK to pilot programmes and new approaches and will invest in skills, community and place, local business, and supporting people into employment.

In Ceredigion support will be prioritised to those ideas which have the greatest potential to deliver against key local priorities as set out in the Ceredigion Economic Strategy 2020-2035 and those which help Ceredigion’s economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

These priorities include:

1. People – inspiring people, developing skills, health and wellbeing.
2. Place – promoting Ceredigion as a place to live, work and visit.
3. Enterprise – supporting businesses to get started and grow.
4. Connectivity – connecting businesses and communities.

The funds are part of a package to help local areas prepare for the launch of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022. Projects should be mainly revenue-based however a small amount of capital funding is available. The deadline for submitting applications for the CRF will be 17 May 2021.

Ceredigion businesses and organisations can find out more about the funds and how to apply by logging into etenderwales. Registration is required on the website. Once registered, the reference code will need to be entered for the particular fund being sought. For the Levelling up fund enter: ITT pqq_33100 – Ceredigion Level Up Funding – Applications. For the Community renewal fund enter: PQQ: pqq_33102 – Community Renewal Fund Applications.