Green Eden

Nurture Eden Is Handed A £65,000 Product Development Grant

Nurture Eden, the organisation seeking to encourage visitors to stay longer, spend more and show concern for the local environment when holidaying in Eden, is celebrating receiving a grant of £65,000 for a project named ‘Destination Eden’.

Nurture Eden has been granted the money by the Rural Development Programme for England, using European funding, to enable a significant investment in product development to take place in the Eden Valley. The grant will allow Nurture Eden to create new trails and itineraries, extend and launch campaigns and create resources and mobile apps. This programme of activity will make visiting Eden in a green way a much easier thing to do.

This, in turn, will help drive the local Eden economy, helping to support jobs within Eden and creating new business opportunities for accommodation providers, attractions and food businesses by encouraging more spend in Eden businesses.

The product developed through this grant will leave a lasting legacy within Eden, as well as helping to attract the type of visitor who wants to leave the car parked up and explore on foot, or bike. It will help highlight the extensive range of things to do in Eden, whether that relates to heritage, arts and crafts, the natural environment, food and drink or the various leisure activities that can be enjoyed around the River Eden.

It will also enable the highly successful Fresh Air Is Free campaign, which Nurture Lakeland has conducted in parts of the Lake District, to be rolled out into Eden as well. Fresh Air is Free packages up information for the visitor on things to do in an area that can be easily reached without using a car.

A new resource in the form of high quality photography will be created, which members of Nurture Eden will be able to access for their own use.  Mobile apps will enable visitors to find key places within Eden with ease, helping them make the transition from town to country in a few presses of a screen.

In this way, sense of place within Eden will be greatly enhanced, allowing the visitor to engage and connect with local villages and locations and gain a greater understanding of the history and current role that the locations play within the lives of those living in Eden.

The grant money will build upon the work already conducted by Nurture Eden which has grown rapidly to become a 58-member organisation of enthusiastic businesses all keen to play their part in attracting the modern, green consumer.

Nurture Eden project manager, Chris Little, says: “We are thrilled to have been granted this funding, which will enable us to achieve our product development goals within Eden and support the work we have already conducted to date.  We thank Solway Borders and Eden Leader, and the Rural Development Programme for England for supporting our vision of Eden and the hard work of our membership.

“We believe there is no better time to become involved with Nurture Eden than right now and hope that we can encourage more local tourism and food businesses to become members and help us grow Eden business and look after its environment.”

To find out more on how your business can get involved in Fresh Air is Free and benefit from a host of new resources contact Angela Green on 01539 822622 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Information about Nurture Eden and how to become a member can be found at www.agreeneden.org