The HRH The Prince of Wales hosted a garden party at Highgrove House, Gloucestershire to mark the fifth anniversary of The Prince’s Countryside Fund.

Exmoor Hill Farming Network (EHFN) were one of nine projects representing the Prince's Countryside Fund at their fifth anniversary celebrations. Dave Knight,, Network Chairman, and Katherine Williams, Network Officer, were two of the 95 guests invited.

They enjoyed a wonderful tour of gardens and were delighted to meet HRH personally. He was very interested to hear about the support the EHFN are providing the farming community on Exmoor.

A number of Prince's Countryside Fund Ambassadors, including Alan Titchmarsh MBE, Ellie Harrison and Phil Vickery MBE. as well as supporters of the charity attended.

HRH was presented with a handcrafted cake to celebrate the ‘birthday’ of the Fund, made by Fiona Cairns, who made the royal wedding cake for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The cake was cut by HRH, surrounded by his ambassadors.

The Prince’s Countryside Fund, founded by HRH The Prince of Wales, was set up following his long held commitment to ensure a sustainable future for rural Britain. In the five years since its inception, the Fund has distributed over £6 million in grants to 135 projects benefiting 160,000 people living and working in our rural communities. During National Countryside Week a further £800,000 of grants has been allocated to rural projects across the UK.

Projects that have been funded range from apprenticeships for budding hill farmers, training for young people to gain employment in the rural economy, community transport schemes in isolated rural areas and projects to educate school children about where their food comes from and why the countryside matters. As well as its normal grant application process, the charity operates an emergency fund for stricken rural communities in times of need. In addition, The Prince’s Countryside Fund runs a Bursary project with Land Rover. All of The Fund’s projects focus on supporting the people who care for our countryside and make it tick.