European Funding

We secured several allocations of European funding since our launch, supporting a variety of key economic areas in Oxfordshire, from rural development to small business growth.

We previously received an allocation of around €22.8m (approximately £13.4m) of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) for the period 2014 through to 2020. The Oxfordshire European Structural and Investment Funds Strategy (Oxfordshire ESIF) set out overarching strategic priorities for the county.

The allocation was made-up of two funds:

• The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF): To support innovation and business support
• The European Social Fund (ESF): To support social inclusion and skills development

We were also allocated €3,448,507m (approximately £2.5m) European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development which focused on rural tourism, food production and small business development.

• We won a £2m bid for start-up and growth under the SME competitiveness theme – this is delivered by OxLEP Business
• Activate Learning won the bid to run the £1.2m 'Building Better Opportunities' project that helped more than 300 long-term unemployed people access training and jobs
• Oxford City Council ran the £345,000 Oxfordshire Community Grants scheme that provided grants of between £5,000 and £50,000 to community groups helping residents to move closer to the labour market