Launch of our Land Rover bursary 2017 at the NFYFC Annual Convention

On Saturday 22nd April we were joined by current beneficiaries Lewis Steer and Helen Reeve to announce the fourth annual bursary in partnership with Land Rover. The bursary offers a 12-month loan of a Land Rover Discovery Sport to the UK’s most enterprising and entrepreneurial young people working in rural Britain.

The applications for The Prince’s Countryside Fund (PCF) Land Rover bursary opened this past weekend at the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) Annual Convention. Designed to offer those who live and work in the countryside support in developing their careers, the bursary has proven to be a springboard for success for young rural workers for the last three years.

Five winners will be provided with a Discovery Sport, known for its capability over a wide variety of terrains and weather conditions, alongside Land Rover off-road and all terrain driver training.

Attending the announcement, a previous winner of the countryside bursary, Lewis Steer, met with this year’s potential applicants to offer advice, following his loan of a vehicle. Since winning the bursary Lewis’ wool businesses have gone from strength to strength. Lily Warne Wool (named after his great great grandmother) is one of the only in the country to carry out the entire wool making process ‘from farm to yarn’ focussing on reconnecting people with British Wool. Since successfully winning the bursary in 2016, Lewis has used his Land Rover Discovery Sport for day-to-day shepherding, moving sheep between rented land and to access other farms and buy wool and skins through the co-operative he has set up. He now supports other local farmers to gain more return from their stock.

Scott Dicken, Jaguar Land Rover UK Marketing Director said, “Our support of the Land Rover Bursary shares The Prince’s Countryside Fund’s vision to support future generations managing Britain’s rural communities. We share a passion for the countryside and we hope that the support of a new Land Rover Discovery Sport for a year will make a difference, improving the prospects for young entrepreneurs at the early stages of a rural business.”

Claire Saunders, Director of The Prince’s Countryside Fund said, “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Land Rover, once again, to provide young people embarking on a career in the countryside with vehicles that form the bedrock of everything they do. The past winners of the bursary have seen their businesses go from strength to strength over the year and we are excited to be doing it all over again. There is a real need for young people to be supported in every way possible and with so many keen to get into rural industries or develop their own businesses, we’re excited to see how these vehicles can help them achieve their dreams.”