- Land Rover and The Prince's Countryside Fund announce applications open for new bursary to help support British rural communities
- The Prince of Wales, Patron of The Prince's Countryside Fund, highlights increasing need to support Britain's rural countryside
- His Royal Highness joins some of his countryside charity apprentices in off‑road, winching and towing training activities
- Five Land Rover Freelander 2 vehicles to be donated to rural projects in the UK
Cumbria. Thursday, 28 March 2013: This morning, The Prince of Wales visited a Land Rover driver‑training programme, where applications for a new Bursary scheme that aims to support British countryside communities, were officially opened. During the visit The Prince of Wales again highlighted the urgent need to help Britain's rural economy, and called for more support for countryside communities.
Visiting Kitridding Farm, near Kirby Lonsdale, to meet a variety of beneficiaries and experience training first hand, His Royal Highness announced details of the new Land Rover Bursary in partnership with The Countryside Fund. The scheme will offer a bursary to five individuals or groups who can demonstrate that the use of a Freelander 2 for a year would enable them to support their rural community.
During the visit, The Prince spoke to a number of young people currently benefiting from his charity about their ambitions and the challenges they faced. Matthew Alexio, a hill farming apprentice from Cumbria, said: "When you're brought up surrounded by landscape like this, you never want to leave it. Hill farming gives the satisfaction of rearing livestock and the peace of mind that the landscape is being preserved. If we weren't supported by apprentice schemes like this, there would be no one our age entering hill farming. We are the future of farming and have a responsibility to manage the countryside."
The Prince showed off his own skills by taking part in a training session where he drove a vehicle on a mini‑Terrapod, an off‑roading mobile unit that uses a combination of steep slopes, low friction surfaces and other obstacles to emphasise the grip and traction abilities of the vehicle.
In his speech HRH the Prince of Wales said: "I really want to use this opportunity today to express my warmest possible gratitude to Land Rover for their really remarkable generosity in ensuring we now have this splendid scheme.
"Land Rover, as a fully‑fledged supporter of the Prince's Countryside Fund, is creating a bursary of its own with the gift of five Freelander 2s for a year which can be won by five individuals who can demonstrate that they will be using the cars for the rural community.
"It is this sort of willingness to be involved that makes a fantastic difference in ensuring we can maintain the priceless national asset that is our British countryside."
The Countryside Fund beneficiaries learnt a variety of skills from winching to how to drive safely off‑road. Laura Schwab, Marketing Director of Land Rover UK, said: "Having reliable and dependable transport to work in the countryside is essential and we hope these bursaries will benefit entrepreneurial farmers. Driving skills such as towing and winching are crucial when it comes to being able to use a vehicle such as a Land Rover Freelander 2 to its full potential. At Land Rover Experience we aim to be able to teach these specialist skills to anyone needing them, either for day to day travelling around the countryside or more specific working needs."
Victoria Harris, Director of The Prince's Countryside Fund said: "We are delighted to announce that applications are now open for our Land Rover vehicle bursary and are excited about the variety of people and businesses that we are expecting to apply. 4x4 vehicles are crucial in helping rural businesses get around the countryside for their daily business needs and providing this opportunity to our rural communities is a fantastic thing to be able to do."
Land Rover announced in January a three‑year partnership with The Prince's Countryside Fund. The partnership involves the support of rural communities by offering Freelander 2 vehicles to five groups or individuals who demonstrate how the use of the vehicle will benefit their community. They could be a young entrepreneur starting a rural enterprise, an apprentice hill farmer or an organisation offering free transport to rurally isolated people or access to training opportunities for young people dedicated to building a sustainable future for rural communities.
More detail on application criteria can be found at www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk
‑Ends‑
Notes to Editors
The Prince's Countryside Fund was set up in July 2010 by Business in the Community and is the brainchild of The Prince of Wales who has a long‑held commitment to supporting Britain's hard pressed rural areas. So far it has given over £2.1 million in grants distributed to over 60 projects across the country, directly benefitting nearly 40,000 people.
Projects that have been funded range from apprenticeships for budding hill farmers, training for young people to gain employment in the rural economy, community transport schemes in isolated rural areas and projects to educate school children about where their food comes from and why the countryside matters. In addition to its normal application process, the Fund also operates an emergency fund for times of need. All the projects focus on supporting the people who care for our countryside and make it tick.
The public can make a donation online at Virgin Giving at the Post Office or by Text. Text PCF to 70300 and a £3 donation will be made to The Prince's Countryside Fund.
Land Rover
- Since 1948 Land Rover has been manufacturing authentic 4x4s that represent true 'breadth of capability' across the model range. Defender, Freelander, Discovery, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover and Range Rover Evoque each define the world's 4x4 sectors, with 78% of this model range exported to over 170 countries.
- Land Rover is committed to addressing the challenges of climate change and since September 2006 carbon dioxide generated by Land Rover manufacturing activities and UK customer vehicle use has been balanced through an industry leading offset programme run by Climate Care.
- The Freelander 2 is the smart, practical complement to the modern active lifestyle. There's superb handling and drivability with true Land Rover capability and versatility. The Freelander 2, and the rest of the Land Rover family, is the natural choice for those who live in the Countryside, as they are able to tackle all weathers and all terrains. Last winter was the worst in the UK for 100 years, and ground most of Britain to a halt. However, Land Rover vehicles were on hand to assist people getting through the snow and the floods, enabling them to get on with their everyday activities.
Land Rover Experience
- Land Rover Experience Centres offer the finest professional training with expert tuition from world‑class instructors. They offer bespoke training, as well as covering health & safety and legal issues.
- Specialist Professional Training is offered by Land Rover all over the UK to people who drive for a living, giving them the tools and confidence to perform to the best of their ability. Clients include police forces in the UK and overseas, coastguards, paramedics, fire and rescue teams, and the armed forces, to name but a few.
- More information on Pro User training an be found at: http://www.landrover.com/gb/en/lr/experience‑land‑rover/pro‑user‑training/overview/
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Kim Palmer
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For more information on the Prince's Countryside Fund please visit http://www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk/ or contact:
Victoria Elms
Programme Manager, The Prince's Countryside Fund
T: +44 (0)20 7566 6659
M: +44 (0)7779 222481
E: victoria.elms@bitc.org.uk
