CLA Game Fair: HRH launches The Countryside Fund

The Princes Countryside Fund – which officially launched at the CLA Game Fair this weekend - is an exclusive collaboration of businesses who have joined HRH in a bid to improve the long-term viability of the British countryside and its rural communities.

Fourteen major companies, including Asda, Waitrose, Booths, Birds Eye and Dairy Crest, have partnered with Business in the Community and pledged their financial support, which currently has a starting pot of £1 million.

In return, the companies and brands making a contribution will bear The Prince’s Countryside logo on selected products and will help communicate its message to the wider public.

The funds will be channelled into grassroots projects that will primarily target the areas of greatest need, which to begin with, will be upland farming areas.

The much-needed funds will help provide a lifeline for Britain’s most vulnerable and rurally deprived areas and communities that saw farmers in Cumbria, the Yorkshire Dales, Wales and the Scottish Highlands, make an average loss of £3,000.

Other core objectives will focus on reconnecting consumers with the countryside and supporting farming crisis charities through a dedicated emergency funding stream.

National asset

Speaking at a media reception at St James’ Palace today (Thursday), HRH Prince Charles outlined ‘frightening statistics that should concern each and every one of us’ and praised farmers for their skills and tenacity while facing some of the most challenging economic, geographical and political challenges.

“I believe deeply that our countryside, wherever it is, is a profoundly precious national asset that should be treasured. Equally the farming families who live in it are an invaluable and unique part of our heritage and culture.

 “There is nothing more important than providing food for the population which is why we need to keep farmers farming – especially those family farmers who farm our upland areas.

“This extraordinary breed of farmers manages to produce food in some of the harshest conditions. Let no-one complain of hard work until they have spent a year working on a hill farm battling against the elements.

“The ability these farmers have to manage in such conditions cannot be learned from books or in a laboratory. But if we lose those farmers that have these skills, we lose the ability to farm a large population of this country.

It is hoped more companies, hotels, tourist businesses and individuals will join the initiative so more can be done to support the future sustainability of the countryside. 

“Today is only the beginning, but the potential is enormous as we all strive to protect our rural communities and sustain a national asset of incalculable value and one that, once lost, can never be treated,” HRH added.

From the autumn, The Post Office will offer the facility for consumers to donate over the counter to the fund at their 12,000 branches nationwide.

Panel

Decisions about which potential projects to fund will be made by an independent Board of Trustees. The trustees are Mark Price (managing director of Waitrose); Edwin Booth (chairman of Booths and Co); Lizzie Kerhsaw (group director of Publishing for the National Magazine Company); Brian Stein (group chief executive of Samworth Brothers); Sir Don Curry (chairman of NFU Mutual); Stewart Gilliland (chairman, Muller Dairy); Sue Huggins OBE (director of network development  of The Post Office);  Mark Allen (chief executive of Dairy Crest); Elizabeth Buchanan (consultant and farmer); Stephen Dunmore (chair of CapacityBuilders) and Paul Murphy (CEO of Jordans and Ryvita)

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