Landmark event to fuel UK's Rural community enterprises
Experts gather to support rural communities to inspire innovative business ideas to rejuvenate rural villages
When:
Monday 27th February
Where:
Burlington House Hotel, Birmingham
Time:
9:30am - 17:30pm
To register and for further information:
www.villagesos.org.uk
Welsh communities are being urged to attend a landmark event which aims to help the UK’s rural communities save vital services and reverse the trend of rural decline.
The Big Lottery Fund’s Village SOS National Conference will draw on the widest range of experts from across the whole of the UK’s rural and social enterprise sectors to give communities the support they need to rejuvenate their villages by setting up community enterprises - from shops and pubs to local food and transport projects.
The UK Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, Peter Ainsworth, will be joined by leaders of the sector, including Plunkett Foundation’s Chief Executive Peter Couchman, Co-operatives UK’s Chair, David Button, Action for Communities in Rural England (ACRE)’s Chief Executive Sylvia Brown and Locality’s Chief Executive, Steve Wyler, all of whom are partners on the Big Lottery Fund’s Village SOS programme, which provides the most comprehensive support ever available to communities setting up community enterprises across the UK.
Wales already plays host to hugely successful community enterprises such as the Talgarth Mill project in Powys, which fully restored an 18th century working Flour Mill, a Bakery and a Riverside Café in the village of Talgarth; and the Myddfai project in Carmarthenshire, who demolished their old community centre in the village to develop a new community led business venture and high quality rural destination. Both projects were awarded grants from the Big Lottery Fund and featured on the BBC’s Village SOS primetime television series last summer, presented by Sarah Beeny.
At the conference, delegates will be inspired and encouraged to start their own projects and will be joined by specialists from across the UK, including the Wales Co-operative Centre, and business, funding experts, planning, and marketing professionals.
The UK Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, Peter Ainsworth, who will also be Chairing the conference, said: “Every year hundreds of local amenities such as shops and pubs close down in rural areas. The effects of this, along with limited transport options, rural isolation and lack of employment opportunities for young people, can all strike at the heart of village life. The Village SOS national conference will help people to tackle all this by bringing together support, information and expert advice on a scale never seen before.”
Fflur Lawton, Head of External Affairs for BIG in Wales, said: “This is a challenging but exciting time for rural communities. Although facing new challenges, they are increasingly turning to themselves to address the issues they face, and this landmark Village SOS event will give Welsh communities the tools and inspiration to go about tackling these issues themselves by setting up new enterprises in their communities. It will be a unique opportunity to share learning from the very best examples of community enterprise from across the UK.”
This free-to-attend event is the essential conference for anyone with an interest in rural communities and community enterprise. It will feature specialist workshops on topics like business planning and accessing finance, debates on issues facing rural communities and how they can be overcome, and the chance to have your say on what you need to rejuvenate your village.
For further information and to book a space at the National Conference in Birmingham, visit the dedicated Village SOS website
www.villagesos.org.uk or call our advice line on 0845 434 9123.
Further Information:
Katherine Darling - Plunkett Foundation: 01993 810 730
Email:
katherine.darling@plunkett.co.uk