‘Making a CASE, making it Happen’ – Community and Social Enterprise Fund Facilitation
What is the CASE Facilitation project about?
The CASE Facilitation project provides, support, advice and guidance to applicants applying to the Community & Social Enterprise Fund which is part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).
Distributed by the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), it has £7m+ available to support the provision and delivery of financially sustainable basic services in rural areas in the South West region. These services could include access to child care, rural community shops and ‘multi use’ rural community facilities.
The primary focus of the fund is to support voluntary and community organisations to become self financing and sustainable by the development of community and social enterprise activities.
The fund is for new, existing or developing community social enterprises in rural areas – specifically for towns and villages with a population of less than 10,000.
For the purposes of this fund a community or social enterprise is defined as a formally constituted group or business which trades primarily for social purposes rather than being driven by the need to maximise profits. While governance and legal structures will vary, they exist for the benefit of the local community, either to promote a particular activity or service or to achieve a set of socially based objectives.
What we can do for you
We can help you:
- Determine if your organisation is eligible for CASE funding
- Assess your project’s eligibility for funding and fit with the basic service criteria
- If eligible, assist your project development through to an Expression of Interest (EoI) for RDPE funding
- Help you access any relevant support relating to your project development through Business Link
- If eligible support you in making a full application to RDPE for funding through the Community & Social Enterprise Fund
‘Making a CASE, Making it Happen’ CASE Adviser service – How it works:
The support and facilitation service in the South West – ‘Making a CASE, making it happen’ – was launched in April 2010 to encourage wide take-up of the Rural Development Programme for England’s Community and Social Enterprise funding.
Each Rural Community Council in the South West has a dedicated CASE Adviser who can advise and support local organisations in preparation of applications for funding.
Contact
The Community & Social Enterprise Advisor at CRCC is:
Nikki Mills, Rural Services Manager
Telephone: 01872 243550
Email: case @cornwallrcc.org.uk
How it’s funded
This support is part of a south west regional project that is funded by the South West Regional Development Agency through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) until March 2013.
Links
To access a list of frequently asked questions and to read case studies of projects that have already received funding please click here to visit the dedicated CASE website.
Related Press Releases
Treverbyn Community Engagement Day
Partners
The ’Making a CASE, Making it Happen’ service is managed across the South West by Gloucestershire First working in partnership with SWAN (the South West ACRE Network) and the region’s seven Rural Community Councils (RCC).
