Breadcrumbs
Voluntary action key to improving rural services – 22 May 2002
Philip Lowe underlined the important role that rural voluntary organisations play for people living in the English countryside: “With their local knowledge they are uniquely placed to advise government and other bodies, about the services that rural communities really need and the best ways to provide them. Working with these communities, they help local people to identify their own needs and design the projects to meet them. They are an important source of advice and information, especially on how to get funding, for example from the Countryside Agency’s Vital Villages grant scheme or from lottery funding.
“Rural voluntary and community organisations face a variety of unique challenges and often operate in isolated and remote areas. The rural voluntary sector rose magnificently to the challenge of foot and mouth disease last year and demonstrated its flexibility and resourcefulness in offering advice, counselling and practical support to communities and individuals affected. Yet the income of many voluntary groups was hit hard by reduced opportunities for fund-raising.”
New research from the NCVO ‘Supporting Rural Voluntary Action’, funded by the Countryside Agency, confirms that voluntary action is vital in underpinning England’s rural communities but they are more reliant on the work of unpaid volunteers than their urban counterparts and need more support to enable them to improve networks and build capacity. Professor Lowe said: “It is essential that government, at all levels, and other stakeholder groups take notice of this research and reinforce their commitment to providing the necessary support and funding for the rural voluntary sector.”
Copies of Supporting Rural Voluntary Action are available from NCVO on 020 7713 6161.
Notes to editors:
For further information please contact Julia Bailey in the Countryside Agency press office on 020 7340 2909.
The Countryside Agency advises Government and takes action on issues affecting the social, economic and environmental well being of the English countryside.
The NCVO is the umbrella body for the voluntary sector in England, with sister councils in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. NCVO has a growing membership of over 2,400 voluntary organisations, ranging from large national bodies to community groups, volunteer bureaux, and development agencies working at a local level
*Professor Philip Lowe is a board member of the Countryside Agency and Director of the Centre for Rural Economy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He is a member of English Nature’s socio-economic advisory panel, the Foresight Panel for the Food Chain, Office of Science and Technology and DEFRA’s Academic Economists Panel.
