Dumfries & Galloway LEADER launches

The new Dumfries and Galloway LEADER programme has launched, with £5.595 million of funding to be invested in rural communities across the region.

Working in partnership with Dumfries & Galloway Council, the Dumfries & Galloway LEADER team have produced a new Local Development Strategy which will guide the implementation of the new programme and allocation of these funds.

The 2014-2020 programme was officially launched in Whithorn on Saturday 12 September as part of Day of the Region, which is an annual region-wide celebration of community spirit facilitated and supported by the LEADER team.

Aileen McLeod, Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform attended the launch. She said:

 "LEADER is a hugely important way of supporting the development of communities and economic growth across rural Scotland. I am very pleased that Dumfries & Galloway LEADER have been awarded £5.595million under the new Scottish Rural Development Programme for the next round of community projects.

"I would like to congratulate Dumfries & Galloway on being the first part of Scotland to launch their new LEADER programme and I look forward to seeing it build on the success of previous initiatives, such as Day of the Region and Capacity for Change, as they implement their Local Development Strategy over the next five years."

LEADER Programme Manager for Dumfries & Galloway, Nicola Hill said:

"We are entering a very exciting time in rural development for Dumfries & Galloway. This allocation of funding presents us with a fantastic opportunity to support local groups, businesses and organisations in developing creative and innovative solutions to the challenges facing many of our small rural and coastal communities."

LEADER in Dumfries & Galloway has been supporting rural communities for over 20 years and during that time has awarded over £10.5 million in grants to 208 projects spanning the length and breadth of the region. This latest injection of cash for the 2014-2020 programme marks the beginning of a very exciting time in rural development for Dumfries & Galloway, and will allow the LEADER team to help more community groups and businesses develop and deliver projects than ever before.

With the programme launch Dumfries and Galloway LEADER are now able to receive initial Expressions of Interests from potential applicants. Complete your Expression of Interest form on our website.

For more information on the Dumfries and Galloway LEADER programme email DGLeaderteam@dumgal.gov.uk or call 01387 260028.