Rural communities in the Yorkshire Dales are being encouraged to apply for funding to improve local services and and other projects.

A total of 36 projects – benefitting local communities, business and wildlife – received a total of £175,000 from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority last year.

The authority’s Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) is being made available again this year, with the same budget, and applications are being invited now.

The largest recipient of funds in 2017/18 was Broadband for the Rural North, a Community Benefit Society that works with local communities to bring hyperfast broadband to remote places.

It received £30,000 from the SDF to help pay for the connection cabinets needed to bring broadband to residents and businesses in Howgill, Firbank, Sedbergh and Cautley.

Projects do not have to be state-of-the-art to win funding: two of the more recent awards were for upgrading and enhancing local car parks.

Grants typically were in the thousands of pounds, but several smaller requests were met, including £466 for the restoration of a historic cobbled road ford near Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

Park SDF officer, Andrea Burden, said: “Uplifting stories lie behind each of the grants.

Many of the applicants are working for the good of their community – and it has been rewarding to see how a bit of help from the SDF can go a long way.

“I’d like to thank all the 2017/18 applicants and urge anyone with a new project idea to get in touch; the SDF might be able to assist getting the project off the ground.”

Several applications for the 2018/19 funding pot have been received, but more are welcome.

An application form and a set of guidance notes can also be downloaded online here. For full details, call 01969 652337 or email SDF@yorkshiredales.org.uk.