Royal Countryside Fund transitions from the PWCF group

Following six years of successful incubation, PWCF is delighted to announce that The Royal Countryside Fund (formerly The Prince’s Countryside Fund) and its direct subsidiary Countryside Fund Trading Ltd have transitioned out of the PWCF group.

The Royal Countryside Fund was founded in 2010 by His Majesty The King, when he was Prince of Wales, to empower small farming businesses and rural communities, in recognition of the unprecedented pace of social, economic and environmental change contributing to the countryside’s steady decline, with rural incomes falling, a loss of local services and amenities, rising costs for farmers, increasing isolation and mental health issues.

The Royal Countryside Fund became a charitable subsidiary of the PWCF Group in 2017. During the past six years we have provided operational support as The Royal Countryside Fund accelerated its growth and built its support base to do ever more for the people of the countryside – be they farmers or those who live and work in villages across the UK.

Earlier this year, the PWCF and the Royal Countryside Fund’s Board of Trustees agreed that the entities would formally separate from the PWCF Group to become a completely independent charity. This is an exciting moment, and PWCF is proud of the nurturing role that it has been able to play in the Royal Countryside Fund’s evolution, and wish the charity every future success.

Whilst part of the PWCF group, the Royal Countryside Fund extended fivefold the scale of its farm resilience programmes having now reached over 2,500 farming families, while their grants have increased by a third since 2020 totalling over £11m to more than 500 rural communities across the country.

Alongside a continuing close connection to the Royal Countryside Fund, PWCF will continue its broader support to the countryside and rural communities through our grant making programmes.