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The Culture, Leisure and Tourism Fund (CLTF) has now closed for new applications. 

The Culture, Leisure and Tourism Fund (CLTF) scheme allowed organisations from the CVSE and businesses operating in the tourist sector to apply for funding to deliver projects supporting decarbonisation. It also supported tourism businesses that need to make improvements to their accessibility.

Applicants were required to apply under one of the two funding pathways, which applied to their organisation or business.

 

Rural Culture and Leisure (RCL) Pathway

Sustainable Tourism Pathway

Overview

An organisation can only receive CLTF funding under the Rural Culture and Leisure pathway if it is seeking funding to purchase, install and utilise a specific type of equipment to help decarbonise their operation. This must be used within a rural area of East Devon.

A business can only receive CLTF funding under the Sustainable Tourism pathway if it is seeking funding to purchase, install and utilise a specific type of equipment to help decarbonise their operation or improve the accessibility of their business beyond statutory requirements.

Eligible Applicants

Rural community organisations with legal status and a clear cultural or leisure focus, including charities, community interest companies (CICs), social enterprises, voluntary organisations, religious institutions, local authorities, education providers and other public sector bodies.

Established businesses trading within the tourism sector including:

  • Hotels, bed & breakfasts and holiday parks/resorts
  • Tourist attractions and amusements
  • Bars, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs
  • Transportation operators and tour operators

Eligible equipment 

Eligible types of equipment are where an organisation is seeking to decarbonise its operation such as: solar panels, small wind turbines, air source heat pumps, EV charging points, LED lighting (replacing halogen lighting systems) Double glazed windows (replacing single-paned windows), loft or wall insulation.

Eligible types of equipment include all of those listed as decarbonising in the RCL pathway and the following types of equipment where a business is seeking to improve the accessibility of their business: hearing loops, stair lifts, ramps, handrails, improved accessibility signage. A more detailed list of fundable items is available in this document.

Minimum grant per organisation / Business

£2,500

£2,500

Maximum grant per organisation / Business

£20,000

£5,000

Match funding minimum

10%

50%

Priority groups in each pathway

Organisations based in villages, hamlets or the open countryside.

Businesses with a cultural or leisure focus.

Funding amounts

Applicants from the CVSE sector could apply for up to £20,000 per individual organisation, and eligible businesses could apply for up to £5,000 per business. The minimum funding request for both was £2,500.

All applicants needed to commit to some match-fund of the total project cost. For the Rural Culture and Leisure (RCL) Pathway this was 10% of the total project. For the Sustainable Tourism pathway it was 50%, so for example, if the total project cost is £10,000, the applicant could have applied for up to £5,000 from the CLTF scheme.

Eligible applicants

An organisation could only receive CLTF funding under the Rural Culture and Leisure pathway if it was seeking funding to purchase, install and utilise a specific type of equipment to help decarbonise their operation.

A business could only receive CLTF funding under the Sustainable Tourism pathway if it was seeking funding to purchase, install and utilise a specific type of equipment to help decarbonise their operation or improve the accessibility of their business beyond statutory requirements.

To be eligible to apply, all applicants must:

  • Be seeking capital funding for a specific 'decarbonisation' project or accessibility improvements
  • An organisation/business must be operating/trading at the time of their CLTF application.
  • Primarily operates within East Devon
  • Not be in administration, insolvent or has been struck off the Companies House register
  • Not have exceeded the permitted subsidy control threshold
  • does not intend to use the funding to substitute lost income/turnover; to cover fixed business/operation costs; or as a wage supplement

Pathways

Applicants needed to apply under one of the two funding pathways, with funding available for the following types of projects:

  • Rural Culture and Leisure (RCL) Pathway:     
  • Sustainable Tourism Pathway:

Applicants could not use the funding to cover salaries or lost income, to cover normal operational costs such as rent, utility bills, etc or to cover the cost of any goods or services already purchased.

Deadline

The deadline for submitting an application was the 21st July 2023. This scheme has closed for this round and will reopen next year.