Village SOS

Big Lottery is sponsoring support for communities across the UK to help reverse rural decline through enterprise. The Village SOS Active campaign will use a national advice line to promote expert support for rural communities.

This campaign has been launched to help people in rural areas reverse the trend of decline by helping them set up and run community enterprises.

Village SOS Active is a campaign by the Big Lottery Fund http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk which is being delivered with rural communities charity the Plunkett Foundation, in partnership with Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), Co-operatives UK and Locality. It was launched alongside BBC1’s six-part series, Village SOS. The Active campaign will see expert advisers from established support organisations providing guidance and help, via a dedicated Advice Line, to people inspired to set up and run their own community enterprises - from shops and pubs, to broadband services and transport systems.

As well as the Advice Line, the campaign includes a website www.villagesos.org.uk which has downloadable materials such as start-up guides, ‘How to…’ documents for different kinds of enterprises and template documents to help people write business plans or market their enterprise. The website also includes a community network area, giving communities a space to share their ideas and inspire each other.

Big Lottery Fund has also held a competition for 250 community enterprises to win between £10,000 and £30,000 to kick start their business. Those enterprises selected to go forward in this competition are also receiving support via the Advice Line.

RCAN members are available to provide dedicated support to any communities who are thinking about developing a social enterprise in their area. Check out the VSOS website above or contact the Advice Line on 0845 434 9123; to find your local RCAN member, click here: About RCAN

For more information, please contact Helen Mardell, RCAN Programme Manager.

Village SOS Link

Monday 27th February 2012 Burlington House Hotel, Birmingham

The Big Lottery Fund’s Village SOS National Conference 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.

Keynote speakers will include the Chief Executive of ACRE, Sylvia Brown, alongside Plunkett Foundation’s Chief Executive, Peter Couchman, Co-operatives UK’s Chair, David Button and Locality’s Chief Executive, Steve Wyler.

Nick Chase (ACRE) will be leading a workshop on Community Led/Neighbourhood Planning and Deborah Clarke (ACRE) will lead a masterclass on enterprising Village Halls.

The event will be chaired by Peter Ainsworth, UK Chair of the Big Lottery Fund. Places are free but must be pre-booked via the Village SOS websitewww.villagesos.org.uk