THE Farmer Network has been asked to spearhead two new Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme groups based around Kendal and Alston.

This is part of the Prince’s Countryside Fund’s national programme which offers free business advice to family farms in 15 locations across the UK each year.

The programme includes one to one business support and a series of six evening workshops with national speakers covering topics including business planning, costings and succession.

These will take place between October 2020 and March 2021 with the opportunity for further workshops over the summer on topics chosen by group members.

Participation is free. The programme is open to family beef, sheep and dairy farms with spaces for 20 businesses on each group.

Ruth Kendal, Project Manager for The Farmer Network said: “This is a great opportunity for farmers looking to build the resilience of their businesses given the proposed changes to support payments and the impact of COVID-19. Participating farms will benefit from workshops delivered by expert consultants as well as having access to free one to one advice and guidance.

For more information about the Programme, please call the Farmer Network on 01768 868615 or contact Ruth Kendal on 07397 985324.