A SUPPORT service for farms in Teesdale has received a £4,000 boost to improve its telephone and IT system.

Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services has upgraded the system at its new premises in Middleton-in-Teesdale, after receiving money from the Rural Development Programme for England.

It means the charity, which offers a range of services to people working in agriculture and living in the local community, is equipped to work with more clients and provide new methods of support.

Diane Spark, manager, said: “On a typical day we’ll deal with more than 40 individual enquiries and we have more than 1,500 members who use our services, so this new technology is already helping us manage our workload and communications more efficiently.

“We’ve just moved into new premises with about 20 times the space we used to have, so it was the right time to make sure we’ve got the infrastructure in place to continue increasing our support to local farms and families.

“We’re delighted with the new systems and the RDPE investment was crucial to get them in place.”

UTASS opened in May 2000, initially as a part-time support service for people involved with agriculture in the Dale.

However, since foot-andmouth disease, it has expanded to offer a wide range of services – from Defra form-filling and Citizen’s Advice outreach to youth drop-in sessions, training, advocacy, and computer loans.

It also produces regular briefings, de-jargonising documents for farmers and helping them with form-filling, and an out-of-hours service for urgent enquiries.

Ian Brown, tenant farmer and One NorthEast rural board member, said: “Investment in new technology is key to the growth and competitiveness of any business, and is one of the areas with which RDPE can help.

“The services UTASS provides are highly-valued in Teesdale - helping farms and the wider rural community not just with day-today questions and issues, but also with some of the huge challenges faced by the land-based sector in recent years.”

The funding was obtained through the North-East England Investment Centre, which helps emerging and existing companies to develop and grow.

John Atkinson, Business Link Rural Account Manager, spent time with UTASS, analysing its needs and exploring various sources of financial support when he identified NEEIC as a potential source.

He said: “This shows just how flexible RDPE funding can be for a range of business development activities. UTASS’ office move was the logical time to look at their IT needs for the future, and they now have a much better system in place to continue improving their offer to clients.”

NEEIC is accessed through Business Link. Applications are assessed on the contribution they make to improving the economic prosperity of the region.

Information is available from 0845-600-9006.

The RDPE micro-enterprise programme is funded by the European Union and Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and managed by One NorthEast.

It is providing more than £1m this year to help small rural businesses start-up, grow and diversify.

It can help with start-up revenue and capital investment.

Information on RDPE in the North-East is available at www.rdpenortheast.co.uk.