It is no secret that King Charles is a huge advocate for agriculture, and in a bid to follow his passion for supporting rural communities and family farms, in 2010 set up the charity which is now known as the Royal Countryside Fund.
It has offered many in the industry a chance to drive their farm businesses forward through financial support and workshops and given communities the opportunity to thrive through various social projects.
Farm resilience
Building on the success of the charity's flagship Farm Resilience Programme, and the Defra-funded Farm for the Future, The Royal Countryside Fund will now be launching a new farming programme this autumn.
The resilience programmes offer free business skills training to family farmers across the UK, and look at future planning, gaining understanding of the figures, the environment and an industry with less subsidies.
Keith Halstead, Executive Director of The Royal Countryside Fund said: "We will place a renewed emphasis in our new farm resilience programme on ensuring an economically viable business with a particular focus on cost control as well as financial and family resilience. Our programme will continue to be based on farmer clusters in specific geographic areas and to be robust in its intervention and ability to encourage changes on farm, without being burdensome on the participating farm businesses.
"As always, we are grateful to our continuing corporate partnerships, including Morrisons, and trusts and foundations who fund our programmes.
Further information will be available in the autumn."
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Morrisons and RCF
The partnership between Morrisons and the RCF started in 2016. Since 2020, Morrisons has contributed over £600,000 to the charity, sponsoring the Farm Resilience Programme and from 2022, the joint Carbon Clarity initiative has helped family farms to reduce their carbon output and increase carbon capture.
- 218 total farms supported by Morrisons since 2020.
- 13 workshop locations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- 63 family farms have participated in Carbon Clarity since 2022.
- £42.54 is the average social return on investment received by participating farms for every £1 invested by Morrisons since 2019.
Craig, a participating farmer on the Carbon Clarity programme said: "I went to the workshop dreading it, because I wasn't that keen on the subject, but I thought the speaker was very good, and very knowledgeable on what she was talking about.
"She wasn't afraid to say what we're doing is right and that not all farmers are bad.
"I learnt to keep an open mind on carbon, in the past I'd learnt to bury my head in the soil, but the workshop definitely opened my eyes to it. It is something every business is going to need to look at."
Currently open farming programmes:
- Savings in Soil
Open to UK farmers
What is it: This programme, with the support of McDonald's, focuses on a topical challenge for livestock farmers in the UK – soils and grassland management. It aims to give practical ways to manage and improve soil health and grassland to cut input costs and deliver environmental benefits.
- Water on Your Farm
Open to Norfolk farmers
What is it: The RCF brings farmers together to learn from experts and each other about the environmental and financial benefits of good water management. The fund wants to help participating farmers better understand how they can implement low-cost natural remedial measures on their farms to better manage water and avoid flooding.
- Biodiversity on Your Farm
Open to Northumberland farmers
What is it: This provides support for farmers to ensure a flourishing environment on-farm for generations to come. The new in-depth programme focuses on promoting productive agriculture that is in harmony with nature after feedback from farmers. Through workshops and farm visits, the aim is to help participating farmers better understand the environmental opportunities available to them and the practical actions that they can take to boost biodiversity on their farms.
Find out more by visiting the Royal Countryside Fund
Community:
The RCF awarded £308,000 of funding to 13 rural community organisations in Cumbria in February 2025. Awarded in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes over £600m a year to communities across the UK, the latest funding is part of the RCF's first county-based programme. It targets rural organisations in Cumbria and Northumberland which have the potential to ‘power up, not prop up' their communities.
24 Hours in Farming charity partner
For the second year running, 24 Hours in Farming is supporting rural charities and fundraisers to help raise awareness of the work these organisations do.
This year the campaign will partner with the Royal Countryside Fund and Farms for City Children, and will be fundraising partners with Len's Light.
You can find out more information here
Show the nation
24 Hours in Farming is your chance to tell the nation what really happens in farming.
Join us on August 7, 5am to August 8, 5am and tell your story on social media. No matter your background, we want you to get involved and showcase what you do every day on farm or in the industry.
Download your ‘I'm proud to be part of #farm24' pledge now and take a picture with it to show your support! Tag @farmersguardian and @morrisons to be featured. To be in with a chance of winning a prize, we are looking for the best pictures with your family, friends or animals - or even a unique location!
Download here
