Rural Development Programme

The Rural Development Programme (RDP) is a national programme designed to bring about economic and social change in the countryside. It provides help to rural businesses and communities which need to adapt and develop.

On the Isle of Wight the RDP seeks to help Islanders regenerate the countryside outside of the comparatively large towns of Ryde and Newport.

The key aims of the RDP are to:

• Improve the rural economy and reduce levels of unemployment
• Improve the quality of life for the rural population
• Focus help on those groups in need, especially older and younger people
• Improve the environment of the rural area

Over the last fifteen years more than £15 million in rural grants has been issued and more than 1,000 jobs created on the Island.

The Isle of Wight Rural Development Programme, which funded by SEEDA, is administered through the Isle of Wight Economic Partnership. The programme started in 1994 and is due to finish in March 31st 2004.

The RDP has funded – either in total or in part – a high number of projects:

• Abattoir and Retail Feasibility Plan
• All Island Foyer
• Americas Cup Jubilee Education Project
• Angel Community Radio
• Arts Away
• Arts in Healthcare
• Bembridge Community Centre Upgrade
• BMX and Skateboard Facility, Cowes
• Brading into the Millennium
• Brading Partners
• Brading Roman Villa
• Brighstone School Environmental Project
• Business Mentoring Manager
• Cadet Boats and Safety Cover
• Corf Campsite – Improvement to Facilities
• Cowes Sports Football Club Development
• Cross Street Enhancement
• Delegated Projects Fund
• Developing Northwood Playgroup
• Domestic Violence Co-ordinator
• Ferry Road
• Green Island Awards
• Island 2000
• Isle of Wight Branding Marketing Initiative
• Isle of Wight Indoor Cricket Academy
• Medina Marching Band
• North Medina Community Development Trust
• Outreach Support for Older Persons
• Playworks
• Rolling Stock Restoration Project
• Rural Deposit Guarantee Scheme
• Rural Outreach Positive Engagement Team
• Sandown Bay Young Women’s Project
• Shalfleet Community Project
• Small Business Network
• Somerton Business Park
• Soundbeam
• Stroud Toddlers Playground
• Sustainable Tourism Workshops and Conference
• Ventnor Gateway Access
• West Wight Information Centre
• West Wight Nursery Training Centre
• Wight Wheels
• Youth, Community and Crime Prevention

Ferry Road

By funding the cost of buying the property at 1 Ferry Road in East Cowes for the North Medina Community Development Trust, RDP money has given them the chance to transform the property into a Community Resource and Enterprise Centre supporting their overall aim as a gateway to activities in the area.

Office space within the building will be used as an incubator for social enterprises and socially aware businesses.

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Green Island Awards

This project builds on lessons learned from the ‘Building Better Business’ project, encouraging Small and Medium Enterprises to participate in a green accreditation scheme which is locally based and recognises environmental good practice. By linking with regeneration initiatives in small towns in ways like this, social and environmental benefits can start to be brought.

Award winning is based on a series of criteria:

• Protection and enhancement of natural and built environment
• Support and expansion of the Island economy and culture
• Improvement of Island quality of life
• Strengthening and diversification of the local skill base
• Response to both traditional and emerging holiday markets

Funding was required to allow a full-time co-ordinator post to be created and to plan for the integration with national schemes and to get the Awards process up and running.

Organisation:	IW Council Policy Unit
Project Website:	www.iwight.com
Project Leader:	N/A
Project Status:	Archived, Now funded by Leader+
Tel:	N/A
E-mail:	N/A
Project Start Date:	August 2002
Funding Complete:	June 2005
Funding Total:	£30,000

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Indoor Cricket Academy

A 3 lane indoor cricket academy with first-class changing and social facilities has been developed at the Ventnor cricket ground site, next to the Botanic Gardens.

The academy is open to the whole Island community all-year round and has excellent facilities designed to develop the playing skills of talented cricketers to enable them to compete at club, county and potentially international level.

Part of the aim for the academy is to introduce a wider range of players to the game, including women, children and the disabled. There are coaching and practice facilities for all ages and standards of play which are run in conjunction with training courses for coaches.

Organisation:	Ventnor Cricket Club
Project Website:	www.ventnor.play-cricket.com
Project Leader:	John Hilsum
Project Status:	Archived
Tel:	01983 822331
E-mail:	106206.1046@compuserve.com
Project Start Date:	January 2002
Funding Complete:	March 2003
Funding Total:	£110,000

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Island 2000

By raising awareness of the local character and an appreciation of the potential of the Island’s countryside and landscape, this project delivers practical examples of landscape-led sustainable development.

This is designed to lead to:

• Direct practical landscape improvements across the Island
• A strengthening of the role of the public in identifying, influencing and participating in local development
• A strengthening of cross-sectored partnerships for collaborative action
• Initiating new research and development in the field of sustainable development
• Make new connections between the Island’s landscape, economy and community

Organisation:	Island 2000 Trust
Project Website:	www.island2000.org.uk
Project Leader:	N/A
Project Status:	Archived
Tel:	N/A
E-mail:	N/A
Project Start Date:	January 1999
Funding Complete:	March 2002
Funding Total:	£52,500

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Isle of Wight Branding Initiative

The need was identified for an appropriate regional and local branding initiative to provide a market outlet for meat products and dairy products on the Isle of Wight. It would support sustainable management regimes on conservation and will help to deliver the Isle of Wight Biodiversity Plan for habitats including: semi-natural grassland, wetlands, heath land sites and wood pasture across the Island.

A key feature will be the development of sustainable grazing regimes, linked closely to the promotion of locally produced/branded products of this grazing.

This is then designed to have a positive impact on the rural economy as well as the ecological landscape of the Island as the end aim is to be able to offer financial incentives to landowners taking part in the scheme.

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Medina Marching Band

The constitutional aim of the band is to ‘provide facilities for the learning and performance of band music and to develop the character of members by promoting the twin aims of self-esteem and joint achievement and by broadening their experience and encouraging social skills.’

The band has consistently proved to be an effective mechanism to combating social exclusion with participants, who cannot afford instruments, provided with them at no cost.

This project allowed the Medina Marching Band to purchase a second-hand coach, ensuring that the band could expand so as many young people as possible from across the Island have access to musical opportunities.

Organisation:	Medina Marching Band
Project Website:	www.mmband.org.uk
Project Leader:	N/A
Project Status:	Archived
Tel:	N/A
E-mail:	N/A
Project Start Date:	April 2001
Funding Complete:	March 2002
Funding Total:	£10,800

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North Medina Community Development Trust

The primary function of the trust is to be the delivery agent for projects of the Town Councils and Community Partnerships of Cowes and East Cowes. The Trust has the following aims:

• To work in partnership with the local community, voluntary sector, business interests and public agencies to promote the regeneration of the towns
• To promote and drive the development of the social economy
• To raise the quality of training and education
• To improve the range of job opportunities
• To promote the role of the arts, leisure and play facilities
• To develop effective and affordable transport initiatives
• To enable access to primary healthcare and support healthy living
• To support community safety initiatives
• To encourage the physical regeneration of Cowes and East Cowes

Funding has been sought in order to move the organisation into a position where it can become sustainable, giving time to develop robust systems and invest effort into good quality relationships with the right type of people and organisations.

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Outreach Support for Older Persons

This project assured that Age Concern IW is able to respond more effectively to the demand for its service which steadily grew at approximately 10% per annum from 1995 to 2000. It encompasses the delivery of advice and information on benefit entitlement and income generation, in addition to providing access to the diversity of information on issues affecting the lives of all older people.

The grant allowed Age Concern IW to develop a co-ordinated strategy for the provision of this information and advice by:

• Appointing a Project Co-ordinator and 2 Outreach Workers
• Expanding Outreach facilities
• Introducing a mobile Information and Advice service that visits all towns and villages, enabling equal access to information and reducing the level of isolation within the Island’s rural areas
• Networking with other complementary agencies and working in partnerships with other organisations
• Setting up new monitoring systems and user feedback mechanisms

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Playworks

Playworks is a project that collects safe business waste and prolongs its useful life by offering it as arts and crafts materials to groups supporting children and special needs groups.

For a small annual fee, member groups are allowed to take a trolley load of materials.

The aims and objectives of Playworks are to:

• Provide children with stimulating resources
• Reduce the amount of materials going to the Island’s over-stretched landfill sites
• Raise awareness of environmental issues with the young
• Cut the cost of disposal charges for those companies who donate materials
• Support member groups that work with limited funds

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Rolling Stock Restoration Project

Since the railway extension from Havenstreet to Smallbrook in 1991, the additional wear and tear on the ageing rolling stock has resulted in increased maintenance costs. The RDP grant allowed for the building of a new workshop and for the restoration of five coaches and four goods vehicles.

The aims of the project were:

• To improve the rural environment – the workshop is built in an environmentally friendly way
• To provide employment in the rural area – the restoration will be done with a mix of paid and voluntary labour. The restorations will allow for more visitors, protecting jobs.
• To improve the quality of life in the rural area – once restored, there will be a cleaner, tidier, and more authentic Steam Railway.

Organisation:	Isle of Wight Railway Co Ltd
Project Website:	www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk
Project Leader:	Hugh Boynton
Project Status:	Archived
Tel:	01983 882204
E-mail:	rdp@iwsteamrailway.co.uk
Project Start Date:	October 2002
Funding Complete:	March 2004
Funding Total:	£45,000

More Examples

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