LEADER newsletter | September 2016

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LEADER at the Scottish Rural Parliament

LEADER will be represented at the Scottish Rural Parliament event in Brechin, Angus from 6 to 8 October.

As the host area, staff from the Angus programme have organised a space in the exhibition area for delegates to find out more about LEADER. A number of other LEADER areas are expected to have representatives there too and a flyer with the contact details of all the Local Action Groups and Fisheries Local Action Groups will be handed out during the event.

The Angus Local Action Group have also played an important role on the Brechin liaison group to help the planning and organisation of the Rural Parliament meeting and accompanying events and visits.

To keep track of activities involving LEADER reps at the Rural Parliament, just search for #SRP16LEADER on Twitter.

News from Scottish Government LEADER team

Supporting the rural economy

Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing has called for "urgent action" from the UK Government on outstanding issues, including seeking clarity as to whether the Treasury has agreed to the call to extend its EU funding guarantee to cover the outstanding £360 million Pillar 2 (LEADER is part of Pillar 2) and EMFF funding that is vital to the rural economy.

A press release on this was issued by the Scottish Government on 26 September.

Read the full press release ›

	Watch Scottish Parliament rural debate
	There is a rural debate in the Scottish Parliament today (27 September) at around 2.20pm which you may be interested in following. You can watch the debate live on Parliament TV. Following the event it will be available to watch in the archived items on Parliament TV.
	Visit the Parliament TV website ›

	2007-13 Evaluation
	Thank you to everyone who took part in the evaluation workshop with Susan Grieve on 24 August. Information from the event will form part of the full evaluation of the full Scottish Rural Development Programme 2007-13. We will circulate more information on this as it becomes available, which is anticipated to be towards the end of the year.

	Contact Scottish Government LEADER Team
	You can contact the LEADER team by emailing Leader.Queries@gov.scot or calling 0131 244 9924.

News from Local Action Groups

LEADER funding boost for South Aberdeenshire projects

In the programme's first funding rounds, the South Aberdeenshire LEADER Local Action Group has awarded £225,475 to the following projects:

Strathorn Riding School Development
Finzean Farm Shop Development
Ringlink Internship Programme

Find out more ›

	Farm Diversification and Rural Enterprise event report
	Over 50 people attended West Lothian LEADER's Farm Diversification and Rural Enterprise event at Kingsfield Golf course and Driving Range in Linlithgow on 26 September. You can find out more about the event in a report from Lorraine Macrae, Scottish Rural Network Support Unit.
	Find out more ›

Moray Local Action Group development day

A development day for the Moray LEADER Local Action Group was held recently. The workshop was a chance to explore the roles and responsibilities of the LAG and elect a Chair and Deputy Chair for the group.

You can find out more in a report from Don Morrison, Scottish Rural Network Support Unit.

Find out more ›

Participants at Moray Local Action Group development day

News from Scottish Rural Network

Vote in our photo competition poll

Vote for your favourite of our six finalists and help decide the overall winner of the Celebrate Rural Scotland 2016 photo competition.

We've been running the competition with Scottish Rural Action, in the run up to the Scottish Rural Parliament event in Brechin, Angus from 6-8 October.

The poll will close at 5pm on 4 October and the winner will be announced at the Scottish Rural Parliament event.

Find out more ›

Watch our short film about the East Camp growing project

Find out about the LEADER-funded East Camp growing project on Benbecula in our latest short video. A subtitled version of the video is also available.

You can find out more about the project in their Case Study for us.

Read the Case Study ›

	Subtitled version of LEADER film now available
	A subtitled version of our short film about Scottish LEADER is now available. The 12-minute film highlights six fantastic projects funded by the 2007-13 LEADER programme. It has been viewed over 900 times since it was first shown at the Scottish LEADER Conference in March this year.
	Watch the subtitled version ›

Prince's Countryside Fund open for applications

Rural enterprise projects across the UK can apply for funding from the Prince's Countryside Fund. The closing date for applications for the current funding round is 13 October 2016.

Find out more ›

Community Ownership Awards open for entries

Community-owned businesses in the UK and Ireland are being encouraged to enter the Community Ownership Awards run by the national charity Plunkett Foundation.

The awards are open to all forms of trading activity from shops and pubs to farms, woodlands and broadband projects. The closing date for entries is 14 October 2016.

Find out more ›

News from Europe

Event report: Transnational Cooperation Fair, Estonia

Don Morrison from the Scottish Rural Network Support Unit reports on the recent cooperation event in Estonia, and Kim Ritchie from Angus LEADER tells us about the Local Action Group tour she took part in as part of the event.

Find out more ›

Audience listening to presentation at Transnational Cooperation Fair

	Special edition ENRD newsletter on Cork 2.0 Conference
	A special edition of the European Network for Rural Development newsletter focusing on the recent Cork 2.0 European Conference on Rural Development is now available online.
	Find out more ›

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