£400,000 Rural Challenge Programme Launched

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) has launched a new £400,000 Rural Challenge Programme.

The programme invites community/voluntary groups to identify a local need and propose an initiative that will address poverty and social exclusion within their rural community.

This programme was developed as a direct response to issues identified in the Rural Anti-Poverty and Social Exclusion Framework developed during 2008/2009.

Grant assistance, up to a maximum of £5,000, will be made available to 80 community/voluntary groups to address the issues identified. Projects must focus on one of the eight target groups identified when developing the programme.

These are:-
 Lone Parents;
 Disabled;
 Elderly;
 Low Paid Workers
 

Preliminary research also indicated that the following themes are most relevant to those experiencing poverty and social exclusion:-
 

Education
Transport & Access
Low Pay
Enabling delivery of local services in conjunction with service providers.
 

Full details of the Rural Challenge programme are outlined in the application packs which are available from:-

http://www.dardni.gov.uk/index/grants-and-funding/rural-development-fund...

EGSA are keen to work with rural groups who are interested in putting together an application which will support any of the target groups to provide a project which will address themes such as health and wellbeing, education, employment, low pay and/or enabling delivery of local services in conjunction with service providers.
 

In particular we are keen to offer our award winning programme “Realising Your Potential” which aims to:-
 

create an interest in and awareness of learning opportunities and progression routes
be more aware of learning opportunities and their personal starting points/next steps
be better able to communicate this to others (e.g. employer)
have achieved an OCN NI Certificate

EGSA has already successfully delivered this programme in a range of settings with a range of contexts, for example we have delivered RYP in hospitals to low paid manual staff and to lone parents who were seeking ways to return to work.

Previous beneficiaries have commented:-

 “Really enjoyed this course, I came away feeling more positive about me and my future”
 “More likely to engage in learning”
 

Other services which EGSA can offer to a potential project can be found in our Directory of Services which can be downloaded at

http://www.connect2learn.org.uk/Content.aspx?nSectionId=1035.

Some of these services are currently free and would create significant added-value to any project idea.
 

EGSA can supplement any service we provide with a unique monitoring and tracking facility.

Our award winning Management Information System (MIS) can be used to assess the “distance travelled” by any adult we come in contact with so as to provide any information required as part of longitudinal surveys or studies.

If you would like further information and/or support please contact Kevin Donaghy at 90244274 or e-mail: kevin.donaghy@egsa.org.uk.