The money comes from three separate funds – the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) – all aiming to increase social and economic prosperity and to create a more competitive, prosperous and inclusive economy.

SEMLEP has now launched its second call for projects under the ERDF programme. There is £1.5million in the pot and eligible projects must support local access to information and communications technology and maximise the benefits of broadband. The types of activity that will be funded include business specific ICT support and advice, business support events around ICT and communications and activities to help create business champions who will demonstrate the value of digital technologies.

Funding is principally revenue based and will require at least 50% match funding, which can be public or private funds. The deadline for applications is 25th September 2015.
* the sterling value may change dependent on exchange rate fluctuations.

£535,000 of European Funding is now also available to support rural businesses across the South East Midlands, part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

Projects under this call must specifically contribute to growth and productivity in the tourism, leisure and recreation sectors. Grants, from £35,000 to £140,000, are available to support projects that focus on small scale tourism infrastructure. This funding has an intervention rate of 40% so any applicant would need to contribute 60% of the total project cost.

Micro, small and medium-sized rural businesses and community groups based in the rural areas of SEMLEP are invited to apply. The deadline for applications is 27th November, 2015.
 

Interested in applying for funding from either of these two programmes?

Here are your next steps.

1. Download Application Details and Call Specifications for the ERDF programme HERE.
2. Download Application Details and Call Specifications for the EAFRD programme HERE
3. Contact the SEMLEP team for individual queries. Email: esif@semlep.com