Monday 27th February
Macdonald Burlington Hotel, Birmingham
TV personality Matt Baker is set to speak at a free landmark event to help rural communities save vital services and reverse the trend of rural decline.
Matt’s upbringing on his family’s sheep farm in the Dales fuelled his love of the countryside and its people, and led to his becoming one of the most recognisable personalities with regards to rural issues. He will share his own experiences of rural life at the Big Lottery Fund’s Village SOS national conference, which will draw on the widest range of experts from across the 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.
UK Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, Peter Ainsworth, will be joined on the day 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.
Says Matt: “I am delighted to be a part of an event that aims to inspire rural communities to set up their own enterprises. Around 19 local pubs close each week, and 400 village shops close each year; 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 be the biggest event of its kind to help communities revive their villages through enterprise, and I’m proud to be a part of that.”
The UK’s community enterprise pioneers will also be present to inspire delegates to start up their own enterprises, like Fordhall Farm, the country’s first ever farm to be owned by its community, and Cybermoor, a revolutionary broadband community enterprise that has transformed broadband services for the most remote parish in England. They will be joined by specialists across the spectrum, from business and funding experts to planning and marketing professionals.
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.
To book your FREE place, visit www.villagesos.org.uk or call 0845 434 9123.
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For press and media enquiries contact Katherine Darling on 01993 810730 or katherine.darling@plunkett.co.uk.
Notes to Editors
• Through Village SOS the Big Lottery Fund has committed over £12 million to furthering community enterprise in villages across the UK. The Big Lottery Fund awarded major grants to 10 showcase rural social enterprises, six of which were featured as part of the prime time BBC1 series Village SOS last autumn. These community enterprises showed the public the extent of what could be achieved by small rural communities. It also inspired other rural communities with ideas of how they can rejuvenate their local communities through setting up and running successful community enterprises.
• The Big Lottery Fund has worked with a range of organisations including the Plunkett Foundation, Locality, Action with Communities in Rural England and Co-operatives UK to develop an online and offline community through a new website www.villagesos.org.uk, a series of UK wide events and a new magazine series.
• BIG is encouraging a network of members to bring their community enterprise idea to fruition through these new resources and activities. BIG is also awarding a further 100 grants of up to £30,000 to communities across the UK to help them get their community enterprises off the ground.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 46% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £26 billion has now been raised and more than 330,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.