The Greater Dartmoor Local Enterprise Action Fund (GD LEAF) are urging Dartmoor businesses and community projects to apply for funding as soon as possible whilst it is still available.

The partnership, originally set up in 2008, aims to to invest in economic, environmental and community based projects to encourage innovation and promote the prosperity of the Greater Dartmoor area by creating jobs and boosting the rural economy. Applications are open for projects which create jobs and help the rural economy grow, in farming, forestry, enterprise, tourism, rural services, and cultural/ heritage activities.  

In 2015, the DR company was awarded £2 million of EU funding for allocation in the Greater Dartmoor LEAF area. Following the UKs decision to leave the EU, and due to the quantity of applications received, the GD LEAF’s closing date of 2020 has now been moved forward to early 2019, and interested parties will need to submit their full applications as soon as possible to enable funding to be allocated and projects completed by that time.

A number of successful applicants to the current GD LEAF programme have already been awarded their funding. These include NJ and SN Willis, dairy farmers who used £4.5k to buy equipment to improve the health of their herd and luxury flapjack makers Carol Myott and Sally Jenkin who used their GD LEAF funding to enable them to buy new equipment for their kitchen and to expand their business, Flapjackery.

Moorwood Timber on Dartmoor used their GD LEAF money to buy new equipment for the business, and the funding secured by the Dartmoor Whisky Distillery in Bovey Tracey has resulted in distillation starting earlier than planned.

Managing Director Liz Abell explains: “At the DR Company, we have been delighted by the number and quality of applications to this round of the Greater Dartmoor LEAF”, she continues: “We are urging anyone interested in applying to do so as quickly as possible - applications will only be open for as long as the funding is available.” To apply for the Greater Dartmoor Local Enterprise Action Fund 2015-2020, or for more details see http://drcompany.co.uk/gdleaf. Applications will be open for a limited time only.