15 May 2007
Strengthening rural communities across the North West
The Plunkett Foundation and the North West Rural Community
Councils are delighted to announce the launch of the Strengthening
Rural Communities Across the North West programme. The £825,000
programme, funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency
(NWDA), has been developed to support vital community-led
initiatives such as village shops and care services, and to improve
the infrastructure of vulnerable rural communities.
The North West of England has a long and proud tradition of
social enterprise: Cumbria has two of the oldest community-run
shops in Britain, and the village of Hesket Newmarket has the
distinction of being the first village in the country to have a
community-owned pub. Experience has shown time and again that
community-run ventures play a major role in improving quality of
life and creating social cohesion in vulnerable rural communities,
and that they often succeed where the private sector fails.
The Strengthening Rural Communities Across the North West
programme aims to make a significant and sustainable contribution
towards improving the provision of essential rural services and
increasing economic productivity throughout the North West. It’s
being funded by the NWDA and managed by Plunkett in conjunction
with the North West Rural Community Councils.
The preliminary phase of the programme identified communities in
the North West that suffer particularly severely from deficiencies
in rural service provision: perhaps they have a serious lack of
childcare facilities or services for the disabled, or maybe there’s
no village shop. Lack of access to such services can often trigger
a downward spiral into social deprivation and economic decline. By
contrast, successful social enterprises and active voluntary groups
can revitalize a community, stimulating other projects and
heralding a brighter future for the community as a whole. The
Strengthening Rural Communities Across the North West programme
aims to achieve exactly that. Two funds (the Community Initiative
Fund and the Community Enterprise Fund) will be available to award
small grants to projects as diverse as creating IT facilities in a
village hall, ensuring better access to good, fresh food in a local
school, or developing invaluable financial services for the
vulnerable. In addition to the grants, expert advisory support will
also be available to ensure the smooth-running of the projects.
The programme will provide a superb opportunity to stimulate
growth in rural services in particularly vulnerable villages, and
it represents a life-changing opportunity for targeted communities
across the North West to break the cycle of rural decline.
Bryan Gray, NWDA Chairman, said: “Social enterprises are
becoming increasingly important to the economy and social fabric of
rural areas and the Strengthening Rural Communities programme will
make significant progress in securing local employment
opportunities as well as helping to foster a sense of pride across
rural communities.”
For further information and interview requests please contact
Elizabeth of Mar at the Plunkett Foundation on 07870 276 375 or at
elizabethofmarpr@yahoo.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
Applications for grants are open until 31st March 2008. A
maximum grant assistance of £7,000 per project is available from
the Community Initiative Fund. A maximum grant assistance of
£6,000 plus 5 days of advisory support per project is available
from the Community Enterprise Fund.
Further details and an application form can be found on the
Strengthening Rural Communities Across the North West website at
www.ruralcommunityfund.org.uk
The Plunkett Foundation (www.plunkett.co.uk) is an
educational charity based in Oxfordshire. It draws on 80 years of
practical experience of working with partners from the private
sector, to enable rural communities to establish and run
enterprises that provide them with essential services. These
include shops, local food schemes and community transport.
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is responsible
for the sustainable economic development and regeneration of
England’s Northwest and has five key priorities: Business, Skills
and Education, People and Jobs, Infrastructure and Quality of Life.
For further information visit: www.nwda.co.uk or www.englandsnorthwest.com
Northwest Rural Community Councils is an organisation comprised
of the three rural community councils in the North West
region. This includes Cheshire Community Council (www.
cheshirecc.org.uk), Community Futures (www.communityfutures.org.uk)
and Voluntary Action Cumbria (www.ruralcumbria.org.uk).