FARMER TO STEER £1.5M FUNDING PROGRAMME
Farmer, Geoff Payne, has been appointed to spearhead a £1.5million funding project in the East Midlands to boost the profits of farming and forestry businesses.
LandSkills East Midlands, which is managed by Lantra Sector Skills Council on behalf of the east midlands development agency (emda), has appointed Geoff as Programme Manager to help agricultural, horticultural and forestry businesses access up to 70% funding towards a wide variety of training activities. Geoff, from near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, knows first hand why skills development is crucial to business success having worked as a farm manager and livestock specialist at Brooksby College and said: “I’m really pleased to be joining the programme. It’s so important that agricultural and forestry businesses keep developing their skills and stay abreast of industry development. LandSkills East Midlands represents a real opportunity for rural businesses to do this through affordable and flexible training and skills development activities and I’m looking forward to presenting rural businesses in the region with this exciting programme.” Part of the Defra and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development funded Rural Development Programme for England, LandSkills East Midlands has helped 1351 beneficiaries in the region and funded high level technical training such as agronomy, developed the regions first farming ambassadors, implemented the East Midlands Dairy Improvement Plan initiative and more. For more information about LandSkills East Midlands call 08452 788 800 or visit www.lantra.co.uk/LandSkillsEastMidlands. ENDS Issued by: Vicky Brewin, Marketing and Communications Co-ordinator Tel: 02476 858417 or e-mail: vicky.brewin@lantra.co.uk. Picture of Geoff Payne available on request. Editor’s notes Follow LandSkills on Twitter at twitter.com/RDPELandSkills RDPE business Support is part of the publicly funded package of business support designed to help companies start and grow. RDPE is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas, with Defra as the Managing Authority. emda has approximately £60m available for projects in the region until 2013. The purpose of RDPE grants is to stimulate the rural economy of the East Midlands and provide more opportunities and an improved quality of life for rural people in the region. Full details on the regional delivery of RDPE and how to apply for funding can be found at www.emda.org.uk/rdpe . LandSkills East Midlands, managed by Lantra Sector Skills Council on behalf of Regional Development Agency emda, is part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) which is funded by Defra and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Lantra, the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based industries, is licensed by the UK government to drive forward the new skills, training and business development agenda for the sector. Lantra represents 17 industries and 1.5 million workers and volunteers in agricultural crops, agricultural livestock, animal care, animal technology, aquaculture, environmental conservation, equine, farriery, fencing, fisheries management, floristry, game and wildlife management, land-based engineering, landscaping, production horticulture, trees and timber and veterinary nursing. For more information see www.lantra.co.uk.
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