Plunkett Foundation News

The Plunkett Foundation is calling for tender proposals to undertake an on-going evaluation of the Specialist Enterprise Support strand of Making Local Food Work. The chief objective for Specialist Enterprise Support is; through the delivery of business advice and mentoring support, ‘to enable 200 community based food enterprises across England to develop and thrive’. Making Local Food Work is a £10m BIG Lottery funded programme involving seven partner organisations, managed by the Plunkett Foundation. Evaluation of this strand should commence in April 2010 and run to March 2012. The deadline for submission is Wednesday 31st March – submissions to be...

For the latest round-up on Co-operatives and Social Enterprise, Farming and Food, Rural Development and International News read the Plunkett Weekly News.

A new online network dedicated to community-owned shops is being officially launched on Friday 12 March by the Plunkett Foundation at Thorncombe Community Shop in West Dorset, 11-12.30pm. Oliver Letwin MP, who in addition to being a Thorncombe’s local MP is a volunteer in Thorncombe community shop, will officially launch the new service.The Community Shops Network (www.plunkett.uk.net.) enables communities to access specialist advisory support on a range of issues and factual information relating to setting up a community-owned shop, including legal, financial and retailing advice and Post Office queries. As well as answering questions, the site provides up-to-date information on...

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...

For the latest round-up on Co-operatives and Social Enterprise, Farming and Food, Rural Development and International News read the Plunkett Weekly News.

For the latest round-up on Co-operatives and Social Enterprise, Farming and Food, Rural Development and International News read the Plunkett Weekly News.

The Plunkett Foundation’s Right to Try conference in London on 27 January provided a forum for debate on the sustainability of rural communities, by examining the barriers they are faced with and of the solutions needed to improve local services through community-ownership. A number of guest speakers attended including Jim Paice and Alun Michael MPs, along with social enterprise leaders and active rural community members.Jim Paice, Shadow Minister for Food and Farming said: “The Right to Try is about unlocking the enterprise spirit in communities and we must tailor local communities to local problems. He also said: “Right to Try...

Feckenham Village Shop in Worcestershire, a community-owned shop in supported by the Village CORE Programme has won a national award for the best village shop and post office at the Countryside Alliance Awards at the Houses of Lords this week, (Wednesday 3 February).Sue and Grey DarbyThe shop in Feckenham is one of over 230 community-owned rural shops currently in the UK, 37 of which opened in 2009. The shops come in various shapes and sizes, reflecting the needs of their communities. Some are based in purpose-built premises whilst other are based in previous shops, village halls, portacabins, churches and pubs....

 Rural communities should have the Right to Try to take control of the issues important to them through community-ownership.  This was the message from Rural Communities - The Right to Try, a Plunkett Foundation conference held on 27th January in London.Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of the Plunkett FoundationPeter Couchman, Chief Executive Officer of the Plunkett Foundation said: “Rural communities want to take ownership of the issues affecting them but are often prevented from doing so because of barriers around a lack of rights and a lack of support.  We are exploring why and how these barriers must be removed, to...

Congratulations to the Rural Services Network for being so quick of the mark in launching its manifesto on the first working day of the New Year. It makes fascinating reading to see the wide variety of needs identified by the Network's members, including ourselves. It also shows the huge challenge that whoever forms the next Government will face given the state of public funding. The challenge with a manifesto is that they always look lopsided as they have to be about what the Government should do, when we all know that life if never as simple as that. Plunkett is...