Land Rover and The Prince’s Countryside Fund launch 2017 Bursary supporting young rural entrepreneurs

26 April 2017

Land Rover has once again shown its support for the British countryside, announcing the launch of its fourth annual bursary in partnership with The Prince’s Countryside Fund. The bursary will offer a year-long loan of a Land Rover Discovery Sport to the UK’s most enterprising and entrepreneurial young people working in rural Britain.

  • Land Rover continues its partnership with The Prince’s Countryside Fund to launch the 2017 rural bursary for rural businesses of the future
  • Now in its fourth year, and open for entries, the bursary has already supported fifteen rural professionals and reinforces the British car manufacturer’s on-going support for the countryside
  • Announced at The Annual Young Farmers convention, the bursary provides five British entrepreneurs with a Land Rover Discovery Sport, for a year, as well as all terrain training

Whitley, 26th April 2017: Land Rover has once again shown its support for the British countryside, announcing the launch of its fourth annual bursary in partnership with The Prince’s Countryside Fund.  The bursary will offer a year-long loan of a Land Rover Discovery Sport to the UK’s most enterprising and entrepreneurial young people working in rural Britain.

The applications for The Prince’s Countryside Fund (PCF) Land Rover bursary opened this past weekend at the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) Annual Convention. Designed to offer those who live and work in the countryside support in developing their careers, the bursary has proven to be a springboard for success for young rural workers for the last three years.

Five winners will be provided with a Discovery Sport, known for its capability over a wide variety of terrains and weather conditions, alongside Land Rover off-road and all terrain driver training.

Attending the announcement, a previous winner of the countryside bursary, Lewis Steer, met with this year’s potential applicants to offer advice, following his loan of a vehicle. Since winning the bursary Lewis’ wool businesses have gone from strength to strength. Lily Warne Wool (named after his great great grandmother) is one of the only in the country to carry out the entire wool making process ‘from farm to yarn’ focussing on reconnecting people with British Wool.  Since successfully winning the bursary in 2016, Lewis has used his Land Rover Discovery Sport for day-to-day shepherding, moving sheep between rented land and to access other farms and buy wool and skins through the co-operative he has set up. He now supports other local farmers to gain more return from their stock.

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Our support of the Land Rover Bursary shares The Prince’s Countryside Fund’s vision to support future generations managing Britain’s rural communities. We share a passion for the countryside and we hope that the support of a new Land Rover Discovery Sport for a year will make a difference, improving the prospects for young entrepreneurs at the early stages of a rural business.

Scott Dicken
Jaguar Land Rover UK Marketing Director
Land Rover and The Prince’s Countryside Fund launch 2017 Bursary supporting young rural entrepreneurs

We are delighted to be working in partnership with Land Rover, once again, to provide young people embarking on a career in the countryside with vehicles that form the bedrock of everything they do. The past winners of the bursary have seen their businesses go from strength to strength over the year and we are excited to be doing it all over again. There is a real need for young people to be supported in every way possible and with so many keen to get into rural industries or develop their own businesses, we’re excited to see how these vehicles can help them achieve their dreams.

Claire Saunders
Director of The Prince’s Countryside Fund

Applications are open now at http://www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk/how-we-help/the-land-rover-bursary- and must be completed online by 31st  May 2017. The Prince’s Countryside Fund Land Rover Bursary is open to UK residents aged between 21 to 35 living and working in a rural area.

[ENDS]

Further information

For further information log onto www.uk.media.landrover.com or contact:

Kim Palmer
Public Relations Manager, Land Rover UK
M: 07795 666 169
E: kpalmer@landrover.com

Rebecca Wright
Press Officer, Land Rover UK
M: 07469 025 162
E: rwright7@landrover.com

Notes to Editors

Land Rover

Since 1948 Land Rover has been manufacturing authentic 4x4s that represent true 'breadth of capability' across the model range. Defender, Discovery, Discovery Sport, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar and Range Rover Evoque each define the world's SUV sectors, with 80 per cent of this model range exported to over 100 countries.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport is the world’s most versatile and capable premium compact SUV. The first member of the new Discovery family, the vehicle features 5+2 seating in a footprint no larger than existing 5-seat premium SUVs.

The Prince’s Countryside Fund

Established by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2010, The Prince’s Countryside Fund aims to enhance the prospects of family farm businesses and the quality of rural life. We believe that the British countryside is our most valuable natural asset and its contribution to our everyday life cannot be underestimated.

To help support and secure the future of the countryside we:

  • Provide more than £1m each year in grant funding to projects across the UK thanks to support from our partners, events and donations
  • Celebrate and promote the value of the countryside
  • Lead projects to strengthen farm businesses, such as The Prince’s Dairy Initiative
  • Commission research into issues affecting farming families and rural communities
  • Bring together individuals and businesses to help tackle current challenges
  • Help communities in crisis through our Emergency Fund