Rural Communities Programme Hailed a Success

A two-year project supporting rural communities in the Northwest of England has created or safeguarded 70 jobs and supported 57 social enterprises. Strengthening Rural Communities across the North West was set up in July 2007 to improve the services available in rural area and increase productivity.

Operating across Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria the £826,000 programme targeted those rural areas which most needed help. The result was 57 social enterprises being supported across a wide range of services including childcare, health and social care, retail and recycling where there had previously been market failure. Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation, Peter Couchman says: “Rural communities are increasingly coming together and using social enterprise to provide essential services, where there has previously been a market failure. This is certainly what we have seen in the Northwest region through a diverse range of proposals from community groups, which aim to improve social and financial sustainability of their communities. We believe the programme has been a real success.” Proposals were invited from both new and existing social enterprises and community-led organisations to bid up to £10,000 and 5 days of business support. All projects had to create new social or economic activity. The challenges faced by rural communities are heightened by greater distances, a more widely dispersed population and poor access to jobs and services. Increasingly, rural social enterprises – businesses for a social purpose - are stepping up to the mark and finding ways to overcome these challenges. In Nenthead, Cumbria, the last remaining shop closed in 2006. Residents of this isolated community were faced with a 10 mile round trip to the nearest shop. Funding of £10,000 from the programme helped to establish a village shop and Post Office. Strengthening Rural Communities was led by the Plunkett Foundation, a charity which supports social enterprise in rural communities, in conjunction with the North West Rural Community Councils and funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). David Hunter, Head of Rural Development at the NWDA said: “Strengthening Rural Communities has made a real difference to rural areas, supporting sustainable changes which have made a tangible impact on peoples’ lives. “By giving these social enterprises business and financial support, the programme was able to build confidence in projects and to suggest ways on how to make them survive in the long-term..” Further accomplishments of Strengthening Rural Communities were the 70 jobs that were created or safeguarded as a result of the programme during a time when many others were being lost due in the recession. It also led to the creation of £1.09 million pounds worth of value added income for the region It also provided support for new skills and knowledge to community-led enterprises, ranging from Credit Unions, shops and swimming pools to fitness groups for the elderly and horticultural projects for people with learning difficulties. For further details about the communities that took part in the programme, including Nenthead, see to http://www.plunkett.co.uk/templates/asset-relay.cfm?frmAssetFileID=259. For information, advice and support on strengthening your community, contact James Alcock at the Plunkett Foundation on 01993 814375 or email james.alcock@plunkett.co.uk. -End- Notes to Editors: For further details about this press release contact Ema Murphy at the Plunkett Foundation on 01993 814386 or email ema.murphy@plunkett.co.uk. A social enterprise is a business, group or organisation set-up with the primary aim of benefiting the people or a community that it serves and whereby profits are reinvested in to the business or enterprise instead of going to shareholders and owners. The Strengthening Rural Communities: Information, Advice and Support guide, and the accompanying film, are available on the Plunkett website (www.plunkett.co.uk). Hard copies are available by e-mailing info@plunkett.co.uk or by calling 01993 810 730. Strengthening Rural Communities across the Northwest (http://www.plunkett.co.uk/whatwedo/src/Index.cfm) was a support programme for social enterprises and community-led initiatives that worked with rural communities to help improve and develop the local services in their communities. Further details can be obtained on the various projects involved including community-owned shops, a furniture recycling scheme and a music therapy trust. Other initiatives included a horticultural project which provides fresh produce via a mobile shop and which also creates invaluable training opportunities for adults with learning difficulties. The Plunkett Foundation (www.plunkett.co.uk) is a national organisation which promotes and supports co-operatives and social enterprises in rural communities. In a world in which rural communities are seeing challenges to services, jobs and community vitality, the Plunkett Foundation builds on a tradition to help rural communities find the answers to tackle the problems they face. Through its commitment to co-operatives and social enterprises, the Foundation provides support, networks and knowledge offering practical solutions that help create thriving places where people live and work for future generations. The Plunkett Foundation works with the Office of the Third Sector (http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector.aspx) to promote social enterprises in rural communities. The Northwest Regional Development Agency works to deliver economic success in England’s Northwest by building the competitiveness of businesses, people and places. Our investment and strategies are working to secure long-term positive change for our rural areas by improving productivity, helping businesses grow and diversify and supporting sustainable communities. Northwest Rural Community Councils is an organisation comprised of the three rural community councils in the North West region. Including Cheshire Action (www.cheshireaction.org.uk), Community Futures (www.communityfutures.org.uk) and Action with Communities in Cumbria (www.ruralcumbria.org.uk).

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