About the Rural England Prosperity Fund eligibility

Funded by UK GovernmentGrants available to grow the rural economy and communities

Businesses and charities in the rural areas of Waverley, and businesses, charities and community groups in the rural areas of Guildford and Tandridge can apply for a Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) grant.

The minimum grant is £2,500 and the maximum grant is £50,000. Grants are up to 50% of the project costs. The programme is financed by the UK Government through Defra and the Rural England Shared Prosperity Fund via the district and borough councils.

The objectives of the grants are to support rural development, jobs, growth and community enterprise.

Who can apply?

Organisation type eligibility

The types of eligible applicants are:

  • Micro or small businesses (less than 50 employees and annual turnover under £8.5 million)
  • Voluntary organisations
  • Registered charities
  • Community groups

To be eligible your organisation must have received less than £315,000 in subsidy over the last three years.

Geographical eligibility

The main criteria is one of geography. The rural Surrey areas covered by this grant scheme are:

  • Rural areas in Waverley
  • Rural areas in Guildford
  • Rural areas in Tandridge

Check your geographical eligibility

To find out if if your business, charity, or community group is located in an eligible area, please follow the instructions below for:

Defra's Magic map

  1. In the left-hand side menu, select the + sign to open Administrative Geographies,
  2. Select the + sign and open Other Administrative Boundaries
  3. Select Rural England Prosperity Fund.
  4. A map will appear.
  5. Now enter your postcode in the box at the top of the screen and press Enter.
  6. You will then see a map with a blue marker around your postcode area.
  7. Select the 'i' symbol (information symbol) in the menu of buttons at the top of the screen.
  8. Now click the blue highlighted postcode area
  9. An information box will pop up to inform you if you are eligible or not for REPF.

What other funding options are compatible?

The Rural England Prosperity Fund grant scheme may also be compatible with the following options:

  • Your Fund Surrey if you are a community group or CIC
  • Other bank loan, director's loan, cash.

Projects that are eligible

Find out what type of projects are eligible in your area

Once you have found out what types of projects are eligible in your area, you can move to our webpage on how to apply for the Rural England Prosperity Fund.

Any further questions?

If you have any questions about the scheme or the application process after reading the information on the website, please contact ruralprosperity@surreycc.gov.uk

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit the government's shared prosperity web pages.

logos of the boroughs of Guildford, Tandridge and Waverley

Find out more about all our funding and support programmes

If you would like to hear more about this grant programme and our other business funding and support programmes, please sign up to receive our news and alerts.

Sign up online for business funding and support programmes news and alerts

Business briefings


Did you find this information helpful?

Rating Did you find the information helpful?

We aren't able to reply to individual comments, so please don't include any personal details.

Subscribe to our newsletters for latest news and events.