Plunkett Foundation News

Representatives from a range of co-operative organisations have agreed to step in to provide support to the communities left stranded by the government pub saving programme being cut to open co-operative pubs.  This was the outcome of a “Co-operative Pubs Summit” held in the wake of the Government decision to axe its community-owned pubs support programme. The main concern of the organisations attending the summit, held at the Old Crown, Hesket Newmarket, the first co-operative pub in England, was the needs of the 82 communities which had approached the scheme for help but have now been left stranded.  There are...

A shining example of how communities are taking control of their futures came this week with the announcement that the Making Local Food Work programme, delivered in part by the Plunkett Foundation, has already benefitted over 1.4million people.Making Local Food Work, which is funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme, reported that it had already exceeded its target of reaching out to 1million people by 2012, with a staggering 1.4million people being provided with better access to local food by sustainable community enterprises. Jennifer Smith, Head of managing Making Local Food Work, commented: “We’re thrilled to report such...

Herefordshire Farmers’ Market Group has been taking advantage of a scheme offered through the Plunkett Foundation’s Making Local Food Work programme which facilitates the sharing of expertise and experience to enhance its performance.It was noticed that Taunton Farmers’ Market, which takes place on Thursdays, returned more than twice as much value as the Hereford Thursday and Saturday markets combined during a presentation of its Retail HealthCheck TM results. The similarities of the two markets suggested that Taunton Farmers’ Market could share useful experiences and practices with Herefordshire, so the Making Local Food Work Skillshare project stepped in to fund a...

A race against time has begun to help communities wanting to save their local pub after the Government turned its back on offering support to the 39 communities facing pub closures every week. It was announced today that an emergency Co-operative Pub Summit is being called by the Plunkett Foundation as a response to news that a co-operative pubs support programme has been cancelled.The Community-Owned Pubs Support Programme was announced by the Department for Communities and Local Government in March as part of a 12 point plan for helping pubs.  Despite no formal launch, 82 communities sought the help of...

Peter Cleasby has been elected as the new Chair of the Plunkett Foundation.  Peter succeeds Susan Knox OBE in the role.Peter Cleasby joined the Plunkett Board in April 2008, becoming Vice-Chair in February 2009.  Until 2006 he was a deputy director of rural policy at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), championing social enterprise approaches across the Department’s business. Peter is a director of a small consultancy business.Speaking after his election, Peter Cleasby said: “It is difficult to imagine a more exciting time than now to become Chair of the Plunkett Foundation.  Our belief in rural communities...

'Never before have the solutions that the Plunkett Foundation supports attracted so much attention in a single year.'Plunkett Foundation Annual Review 2010 (pdf)Introduction by Peter Couchman, Chief Executive The majority of national newspapers ran stories about rural communities taking control. The main Party manifestos each made reference to the importance of saving shops and pubs. Our reputation grew even more when the good people of Ambridge decided to save their village shop with the help of Plunkett. Over 800,000 people listened every night to The Archers explaining how a village shop could be saved. One national newspaper described the year as...

Two distinguished co-operators have been awarded Fellowships by the Plunkett Foundation at their annual seminar and AGM in Oxford on 9 June.   Edgar Parnell, former Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation, and Dr Rita Rhodes, academic and writer on international co-operation and a long standing member of the Plunkett Foundation, were awarded their Fellowships for their outstanding contribution to the work of the Plunkett Foundation.PHOTO: Susan Knox (Plunkett Foundation Chair), Rita Rhodes, Edgar Parnell and Peter Couchman (Plunkett Foundation Chief Executive)  Edgar Parnell, speaking at the event, said: "It is my privilege to have the award of a Plunkett Foundation Fellowship....

Kirdford community-owned village shop in Sussex was opened by actor Julie Walters on 5th June.  The shop opening, following hot on the heels of the community-owned shop on Radio 4’s The Archers this week, is the fiftieth new shop to open following the support of a dedicated support programme for communities looking to set up and run a community-owned shop.Following the closure of their village shop in 2006, the village of Kirdford rallied together to ensure that this valuable village service was not lost.  Over the last three years, the village of Kirdford has raised in excess of £200,000 through...

After months of anticipation, the villagers of Ambridge in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers have celebrated the opening of their community-owned shop. In setting up their own shop, they have followed a path chosen by an increasing number of rural communities across the UK, many of whom are so empowered by their success that they’re going on to create more community-owned enterprises such as pubs, local food schemes and broadband services.The storyline on The Archers, which the Plunkett Foundation has been advising on, began in October in a way that would be familiar to many rural communities.  The shop owner,...

Date: 09 June 2010 - 10am - 4pmLocation: Oxford University Department for Continuing EducationRewley House1 Wellington SquareOxfordOX1 2JAOverviewDownload booking formThe closure and withdrawal of services has left a growing number of rural communities without access to a range of essential services including local shops, pubs, transport and health services.  With public funding in short supply, will the government be able to less to prevent this happening?While services have increasingly closed or been withdrawn in recent years, there has been a growing movement of rural communities setting up and running community-owned services as a way of taking control of the issues...