NFU Mutual’s Charitable Trust has distributed its first round of 2024 donations to UK rural causes, totaling over £500,000.
This is the first of two rounds of funding which will be delivered across the year. The trust expects overall donations to reach at least £1 million by the end of 2024.
NFU Mutual said this latest round of funding will help to deliver a range of initiatives, including rural poverty relief, helping small farming businesses to thrive, educating and mentoring young people and supporting mental wellbeing.
The organisations set to benefit from the donations are:
- Addington Fund;
- Farms for City Children;
- The FCN;
- Gareth Raw Rees Memorial Scholarship;
- NFU Education;
- Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust;
- Oxford Farming Conference;
- Royal Countryside Fund;
- RSABI;
- Samaritans;
- Wales Federation of Young Farmers Clubs.
The donations will be available immediately to the organisations, NFU Mutual said.
Applications for the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust’s November round of donations are now open, and the closing date is October 4.
NFU Mutual and NFU Mutual Charitable Trust chair, Jim McLaren, said: “NFU Mutual is committed to making a positive impact for our members and wider society through our charitable giving programme.
“We are very proud to be championing the work of these great causes through the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust.”
Royal Countryside Fund
The Royal Countryside Fund, a charity which empowers family farms and rural communities to survive and thrive, will be using its donation of £75,000 to aid its work with farm support groups across the UK.
Executive director at the Royal Countryside Fund, Keith Halstead, said: “This incredibly generous grant from the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust will help The Royal Countryside Fund improve the lives of thousands of farmers across the UK, who are supported by our Farm Support Group network.
“We will be able to increase the capacity of groups within the network to deliver more vital services and support to those in need.
“We would like to say a huge thank you to the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust for helping us provide this crucial support that so many within farming communities depend on.”
