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TV personality Jimmy Doherty is joining forces with Rachel’s Organic founder Rachel Rowlands and the Carnegie UK Trust to recognise unsung rural champions across the country. The champions – or Rural Sparks - will be found through a widespread search for excellence, run by Carnegie. The Rural Sparks mission has been launched to recognise the rural champions who have helped transform the areas where they live. The panel is completed by the deputy editor of Regeneration and Renewal magazine, Ben Walker, Carnegie’s rural director Kate Braithwaite and former director of the Commission for Rural Communities, Margaret Clark.
Nominations for Rural Sparks are invited from anyone who considers themselves or someone they know to have achieved something remarkable within their rural community. The types of initiatives the assessment panel may consider include community-run renewable energy schemes; projects promoting local produce; or residents who set up their own Community Land Trust. Application forms are available from http://rural.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/. Carnegie will select five top Rural Sparks – one each from Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as ten runners up. Top Rural Sparks will receive a contribution towards their project and will be included in a new book, Carnegie’s compendium of rural innovation, which will be published in 2009.
Rural Sparks panellist Rachel Rowlands said:
“Some people only think of rural areas as the source of produce they buy in supermarkets, but there is so much more to rural life than production. It’s tough maintaining a good quality of life in rural areas, but within communities people really look out for each other. In fact it was during the snow storms of 1982, when we delivered emergency milk and cream to our community, that Rachel’s Organic Dairy really started. It’s time to celebrate that rural spirit, which is why I’m supporting Carnegie’s Rural Sparks.”
Jimmy Doherty said:
“Through my work on Farming Heroes I’ve encountered many people who have transformed their communities by daring to think they can make a difference. Rural Sparks is a chance to recognise their ingenuity, and I’m excited about being a part of it.”
Carnegie rural director Kate Braithwaite said:
“We know from our extensive work in rural areas that there are hundreds of unsung champions across the country. These are people who achieve extraordinary things for their local communities. Carnegie thought it was about time these people were celebrated, and that’s why we’ve launched our new Rural Sparks search. We want to encourage people in rural areas, and provide practical ways for people to share ideas.
“The sorts of people we’re looking for might have banded together to keep a local service going or harnessed a local heritage spot as source of community revenue. These are the people who are really sustaining local communities, and with Carnegie’s history in rural issues, it is only fitting that we highlight their hard work.”
ENDS
For more information, contact Bridget Hargreave at Linstock Communications, 020 7089 2080.
Notes to editors
Application forms are available from www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk or by contacting the rural team on ruralsparks@carnegieuk.org or 01383 721445. The deadline is Monday 29 December 2008.
Carnegie UK Trust is one of over twenty foundations worldwide set up by Scots American Andrew Carnegie, working to support a more just, democratic, peaceful and sustainable world.
Carnegie supports independent commissions of inquiry into areas of public concern, together with action and research programmes. Carnegie’s rural programme examines and promotes ways in which rural communities across the UK and Ireland can be empowered to shape and influence change and work to ensure that rural priorities are fully recognised by decision makers. For more information on the rural programme go to http://rural.carnegieuktrust.org.uk.
Simon Berry, ruralnet|uk’s long standing CEO, is taking a secondment with Defra to work on the delivery of their Third Sector Strategy and Greener Living Fund, launched on Monday.
Simon, who is well-known in the sector for promoting networking and collaborative approaches and for his work with carbon-saving initiatives in rural areas, will be working with Defra part-time until the end of this year. He will take the position full time at the beginning of 2009. He will be taking long experience in the Third Sector - with charities, Social Enterprises, co-ops and community groups - to help Defra take forward this vital work.
Board member Helen Cherry said, “Simon has always been passionate about strengthening rural communities and promoting innovative approaches. He is committed to helping organisations and the people they serve adapt to tackle climate change. This secondment will take his skills and experience in ‘joining-up’ front-line groups and forging cross-sector partnerships to the heart of Defra.”
Simon launched the Rural Community Carbon Network over a year ago, to map groups working on climate change and help them to exchange experience. ruralnet|uk and Defra have worked on a variety of joint initiatives, including the Community Broadband Network, early initiatives to counter the impact of Foot and Mouth, engaging communities in harnessing the power of online information and the subsided place scheme at the ruralnet|uk annual conference for community representatives.
Simon has written a blog post about leaving ruralnet|uk here.
Notes for Editors:
1. ruralnet|uk is a rural regeneration charity which promotes a living and working countryside and finds new and effective ways to help rural communities improve and strengthen their local economies. It supports agencies working on the ground to alleviate disadvantage, to enable social inclusion and social enterprise. It works through promoting and enabling collaboration, research, consultancy and knowledge and information transfer. It combines skills in ICT, project management, business development and community development. For more see www.ruralnetuk.org
2. Defra’s Third Sector Strategy signals the Department’s commitment to working with the third sector (which includes voluntary and community organisations, charities, NGOs, co-operatives and mutuals and social enterprises). The sector makes a vital contribution to Defra’s strategic objectives. The Strategy is a result of a participative process which has involved third sector stakeholders, Defra staff and their delivery bodies.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/how-do-we-work/third-sector/strategy/index.htm
3. The Greener Living Fund, launched this week by Defra is a new fund to promote greener living. Over £6 million is being made available to support both projects and programmes by national delivery partners between November 2008 and March 2011.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/how-do-we-work/third-sector/strategy/greener-living-fund.htm.
The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) has re-issued another call for evidence on the impacts of the Credit Crunch and Recession on rural England.
The CRC has been asked by Rt Hon Hilary Benn, MP and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to provide him with regular reports about the impacts of the economic downturn on rural businesses, employment and households and proposals for action.
These reports will enable the Secretary of State to put the rural voice and needs regularly to the National Economic Council set up by the Prime Minister in October.
The Commission would like to receive a continuous stream of evidence for these reports from rural and economic organisations, regional and local authorities, professional and trade associations, housing and support groups and others operating in rural England.
This could be:
· Findings from local surveys
· Commentary
· Examples of impacts – both harmful and positive
· Proposals for action
If you would like to contribute or get involved please visit the CRC’s website here:
Notes to Editors:
1. The Commission for Rural Communities We were established in April 2005 and became an independent body on 1 October 2006. Their role is to provide well-informed, independent advice to government and ensure that policies reflect the real needs of people living and working in rural England, with a particular focus on tackling disadvantage. They have three key functions: rural advocacy, expert adviser and independent watchdog. http://www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk.
What's important to you?
What will rural Britain look like in 2020?
Simon Berry, Chief Executive of ruralnet|uk wants to know and is taking an innovative approach to find out. He is asking people to contribute their thoughts and ideas online at a new website launched today: www.2020vision.ruralnet.org.uk.
Simon commented:
“We want to do this collectively because many heads are better than one or two - and there is a great deal of significance to something that has been created by hundreds of people. Visions can inspire and motivate - and they can inform policy and influence strategy. This is an opportunity for people to contribute to a collective vision for rural Britain - something quite unique and special.”
Simon is encouraging people to consider things that we’d like to see change; things we’d want to preserve and things we don’t have now that we’d like to have in the future.
Simon kicked off this process by collecting over 200 personal visions from delegates at the joint ruralnet|uk and Action for Market Towns conference in Skipton this month. He wants many more and is keen to get people thinking and writing. Visit www.2020vision.ruralnet.org.uk to make a contribution, to take a look at this experiment in more detail or read through the visions to date.
Andy Tordoff, Yorkshire Forward
Notes to Editors
1. ruralnet|uk is a rural development charity (no 1089238). For more information go to www.ruralnetuk.org
2. Future Choices - Live & Local - the joint event with ruralnet|uk and Action for Market Towns took place in Skipton on 1/2 October 2008. For further information and to view video footage, plenary session and workshop presentations made, please see www.futurechoices.ruralnet.org.uk
UPDATED!! The event may be over in Skipton but we have pulled together all the very best bits from Future Choices - Live & Local and created a brand new website to accommodate it all!
Go to www.futurechoices.ruralnet.org.uk to catch up with everything online now.
You will find videos from all the plenary sessions - and includes a video interview with Matthew Taylor MP talking about his recent review on how land use and planning can better support rural business and deliver affordable housing . Find out how ruralnet|uk Chief Executive Simon Berry collected over 230 ‘Visions’ from delegates*, in just eight minutes, as well as summaries from all the workshops and study tours. We also chatted with the delegates to find out what they thought of workshops, as well as catching a few moments with some of the key speakers, including Rhona Pringle Renaissance Market Town Manager at Yorkshire Forward.
* UPDATE! The collective vision for rural Britain in 2020 is now available online - all contributions from the event in Skipton are available and you can post your own vision or simply post your thoughts on what you think rural Britain will look like in 2020. Please visit the website here.
ruralnet|uk, in association with a number of local public and private agencies has launched an initiative for the residents of Central rural Warwickshire. The goal is draw upon £1.5m funding from a European sponsored initiative known as the LEADER project. The service enables anyone to submit their ideas and help shape the application. Ideas submitted so far include a community orchard project, a rural paparazzi competition and community bike sharing initiatives amongst others.
CENTRAL WARWICKSHIRE VILLAGES LEADER PROJECT
In Central Warwickshire have just launched a service which we hope will enable communities to participate
with the development of their LEADER programme better than ever before.
http://www.warwickshireleader.net is a web-based tool open to everyone and designed to provide an online channel for the engagement of the community in the collaborative development of the LDS (Local Delivery Strategy). All visitors can read the content and comment anonymously. Visitors can also register and have their comments attributed or initiate their own ideas.
At its core the site is designed to move us from the approved `Expression of Interest’ to the LDS which will trigger the relaese of the funding in an open and transparent way.
The site will run in parallel with more traditional forms of engagement, village meetings, village visits etc and these will be reported on the site too for those unable to attend. It supports all media: text, video, audio and all of these will be used to capture the content of face to face activities.
As new ideas are submitted they are tagged with labels such as the Ward they would apply to, how much funding maybe required, whether its a community / voluntary type project etc and this builds a picture directly from the participants which will feed directly into the LDS and business case. We also intend to post the LDS monthly on the site for visitors to check on the progress of the application.
This is your opportunity to make the government aware of impacts and concerns in your rural communities and businesses. They want to know what is happening to economic activity and development, what might happen and who should do what about it.
To inform the study we are seeking and submitting information and commentary from rural communities and businesses, their representatives and agencies, concentrating on:
· What impacts are current financial difficulties having on employment; on investment; on property including housing; on community activity, on private and public sector economic development activity and plans?
· How can these impacts and risks be reduced? Are you taking such steps?
· What is needed to stimulate recovery and regeneration in future?
This will be captured in a short paper to be sent to Professor Parkinson by late September, and rural evidence and commentary will be incorporated into his report to the Minister.
To help ensure the rural voice is clearly heard, please send your comments and any supporting evidence, to CRC’s Rural Economies team by 15 September, via louise.rixham@ruralcommunities.gov.uk Please identify the type of organisation, agency or business that you are writing about, as well its local authority or post code to help us allocate views to the different rural areas. Please draw this opportunity to the attention of your network of peers and colleagues and encourage them to contribute. Thank you for your help.
If you prefer to offer your views directly and online, Professor Parkinson has created an online survey www.survey.ljmu.ac.uk/creditcrunchsurvey
ruralnet|uk is delighted to announce that it has won the tender to deliver the Action for Market Towns (AMT) website. A central feature of the bid was in utilising cutting edge web 2.0 technologies which will ultimately allow AMT to pull information in from other sites via RSS feeds and also take control of managing the environment themselves.
Rob Mannion, Business Development Manager of ruralnet|uk said;
“It is very good news for both ruralnet|uk and Action for Market towns and yet further
strengthens the strategic partnership between to the two organisations.
We very much look forward to working closely with AMT in coming weeks
and promoting their services on the next generation of web
technologies”.
Notes:
1. ruralnet|uk is a registered charity number 1089238
2. Action for Market Towns is a national membership group that provides small towns, local authorities and others with: Information and advice; examples of best practice
and national representation.
ruralnet|uk is delighted with Capacitybuilders’ announcement today awarding funding to continue the highly innovative net:gain programme until 2011.
Rural VCO’s are benefiting from the ruralnet|uk managed ‘Improving Reach’ project, supported by Capacity Builders. As part of this project, rural VCO’s are being invited to adopt a widget for their website.
