SOME £1.2m of funding has been awarded to encourage rural growth and jobs in the Tees Valley, north-east England.

As the lead partner, the Tees Valley Rural Community Council will deliver the fund over the the next three years with Darlington Borough Council as the accountable body for the programme.

This is the first time the area has received funding specifically for rural areas.

The scheme covers six priority areas.

They are rural business and SMEs, farm diversification, rural tourism, local services, culture and heritage, and forestry development.

The programme will be directed by a Local Action Group (LAG), whose executive body will make the awards.

It covers the designated rural areas of Hartlepool, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Darlington and part of Hambleton District.

In addition to never having had access to LEADER before, these areas have not received much significant funding in the past.

To make sure the new funding gets off to a good start, the community council is looking for project ideas that will achieve the main aims of the programme.

Those amims include marketing and promoting the products and services of the Tees Valley & Vale of Mowbray (TVVM) rural economy to a wider local, national and international market of consumers, businesses and visitors

In doing so, the council wants to encourage and support our local businesses to diversify, grow and compete more effectively, as well as helping to support new market developments.

It also wants to integrate rural and urban economies to harness the potential of greater connectivity and collaborative actions to bring long term, sustainable benefits to communities and businesses.

The council wants to support enabling networks and other measures to promote sustainability through business resilience, resource efficiency, rural farming structure and rural community vitality.

Applicants can be small or micro rural enterprises, farm businesses, forest and woodland enterprises, tourism businesses, community groups or individuals.