GRANTS totalling more than £30,000 have been given to community projects in the Yorkshire Dales.

The cash forms the latest round of awards from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund (SDF), which is managed by Clapham-based charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) on behalf of the Authority.

The funding has been paid out to six projects that will benefit local communities.

The biggest grant of £13,000 was given to a project to provide visitor accommodation in a traditional field barn at the Hazel Brow Farm Visitor Centre in Low Row in Swaledale.

Other successful bids include a scheme to provide access to caving for young people and adults with special needs; a social inclusion project covering five National Parks; and a feasibility study for traffic and visitor management for Horton village.

The fund is open to everyone – community groups, businesses, and individuals – and aims to find a more sustainable way of living and working in the Dales.

It can support projects that create local jobs or training opportunities, or that improve the range of facilities and services available to local communities provided that the projects also bring environmental benefits.

National Park Authority head of sustainable development, Peter Stockton, said: “Following an appeal in the media earlier this year for fresh applications to the fund, we received an overwhelming response from individuals, community groups and organisations.

“It just goes to show that there is so much fantastic work being done all over the Yorkshire Dales and we are only too pleased to be able to help where we can.”

Gillian Muir, Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust’s SDF project officer, said: “The SDF continues to prove itself to be a vital source of money for small-scale projects.

“This year we have already provided £135,322 in grant funding from our allocation of £160,000. It is likely that there will be another decision-making round before March, but we expect that this will primarily deal with deferred projects rather than fresh applications.”

Application forms and details for a grant are available on the National Park Authority website at www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/applyingtothesdf and by contacting Ms Muir on 01524-251002 or gillian.muir@ydmt.org.