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

A number of Prince's Countryside Fund Ambassadors, including Alan Titchmarsh MBE, Ellie Harrison, Charlotte Kerwood and Phil Vickery MBE, as well as supporters of the charity attended the event, held just south west of Tetbury.

HRH was presented with a handcrafted cake to celebrate the birthday of the Fund, made by Fiona Cairns, who was also responsible for making the royal wedding cake for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

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 and has celebrated its fifth anniversary during National Countryside Week (July 20-26).

In the five years since its began, the Fund has distributed over £6 million in grants to 135 different 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 and community transport schemes in isolated rural areas among others.

As well as its normal grant application process, the charity operates an emergency fund for stricken rural communities in times of need.