The village projects in Harby in Leicestershire, Tideswell in the Peak
District and Newstead near Kirkby-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire have all
made the Village SOS shortlist announced today. Village SOS – an
initiative by Big Lottery Fund and the BBC to inspire UK rural revival
– aims to fund six rural villages to develop new business ventures
that will breathe new life into their areas, create new jobs and improve
the quality of life for local people.
Belvoir Open Waterways Society in the village of Harby in Leicestershire
hopes to restore their local canal and canal side and generate new revenue
from the village through selling a by-product of the clean-up process. They
want to clean up Grantham canal and dredge the silt that has built up to
bring the waterway back to life. Nutrients from the silt that is removed
will then be extracted and turned into plant food pellets to sell and to
generate profit that will be reinvested into restoring and maintaining the
canal for the long term. The group also plan to renovate a derelict canal
side building in which to make the product.
Elspeth Pound, Belvoir Open Waterways Society spokesperson,
said:
“If you speak to older people who have lived in the village
for many years they will tell you that the village isn’t thriving
as it once did, a lot has changed, lots of shops have closed and
businesses in the area have declined. Currently the Grantham Canal in
Harby is very over grown and we want to bring it back to life, de-silt
it and make the canal side a nice place for all local people to enjoy,
cycle and walk along.”
The project would benefit everyone in the village by making the canal a
pleasant place to be and returning it to the working canal and lifeblood of
the village that it once was. The project also hopes to benefit local
people by creating up to 10 jobs and many more volunteering opportunities
as well as opportunities for young offenders to work at and contribute to
the project as well.
The shortlisted project in the village of Tideswell in the Peak District
wants to bring local food producers together to sell their products under
one brand – Taste Tideswell. By working together with existing local
farmers, shops and individual producers the Taste Tideswell project hopes
to sell the quality produce under a single name and promote the village as
a destination for food lovers.
Pete Hawkins, Taste Tideswell Group Chair, said:
“Where we used to have two grocers and two butchers for
example we now only have one of each and we fear that if we were to
lose another shop it would create a domino effect that leaves the
village vulnerable to further decline. To ensure our village’s
future prosperity our plan is to put Tideswell on the culinary map. Our
project will work with existing food producers, farmers, local shops
and tap into the skills and talents of local home-based food producers
and market the high quality local produce under a single Taste
Tideswell brand.”
The project also wants to increase the amount of local food that is
produced by setting up a community smallholding that will provide space for
allotments and small livestock and build on local culinary skills by
building a community kitchen. The professional kitchen would provide a base
for individuals who currently cook or bake in their homes to develop their
skills and to make large quantities of their produce in order to sell.
Children from local schools would also be able to have healthy eating and
cookery lessons, taught by older people in the village who could pass on
their recipes and culinary expertise.
The Future Newstead project in Newstead, Nottinghamshire, in partnership
with Rural Community Action Nottinghamshire, would transform a 220-acre
site of former colliery spoil heaps into a thriving, mulit-use Country Park
and resource for the local community.
Since the colliery closed in 1987 the area has naturally matured into a
regionally significant haven for wildlife, but is slowly being spoiled by
vehicles driving through the site. The Future Newstead project focuses
around creating three main attractions: a county sculpture park, which will
showcase sculptures created by local artists and community groups; a
weekend festival offering concerts and outdoor performances; and a combined
visitor centre and café, built using eco-friendly materials, and
sustainable energy through renewables.
The project would create new jobs, improve the village’s image and
generate income to re-invest in future community activities and social
enterprises, which could include a community windfarm, fishing ponds and
fish farm, and an alternative rare breed’s farm for working with
disadvantaged young people and raising aspirations. The overall aim is to
make this a sustainable venture with income streams to support the work for
years to come.
Mick Leivers of Future Newstead said,
“We are delighted to be given the opportunity to work with
a business champion to take forward this exciting partnership project,
which will make such a difference to the local landscape and our
community. There is a strong group of committed individuals and
organisations dedicated to make this Country Park project a real asset
for future generations”.
The 28 villages shortlisted today will be offered a development grant of up
to £10,000 to develop their business proposals. The full shortlist
can be viewed here www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/vsos_table.pdf
To help them, professionals – known as ‘Village
Champions’ – found through a nationwide search run by the BBC
and Enterprise UK, will live and work with the successful six villages for
a year. BBC One will document the projects’ journey for a six-part
series which promises to be gripping entertainment for viewers as they
follow the ups and downs as the Champion moves into their chosen village
and work begins.
The 28 villages will be paired with a Village Champion through a unique
‘matchmaking’ conference and shortlisting process, which will
see the villages interviewing potential candidates and inviting them to
their villages, before choosing who to work with.
In May 2010, the final six villages will be announced and their respective
Village Champions will move into the villages for a year to help them turn
their business idea into a reality.
Mick McGrath, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the East
Midlands, said:
“A total of five villages across the East Midlands are now
in the running to secure up to £400,000 of Lottery money to
transform the fortunes of their local area. I am pleased to see such an
exciting range of projects make the shortlist but now the hard work
begins, with each project facing the challenge of choosing a village
champion and further developing their proposal into a viable business
plan that will have a lasting impact in their community.”
Alongside the Village SOS series, there will be a major learning campaign*
to help other villages use the learning and enthusiasm from the programme
to take a bold step towards starting a new business that will regenerate
their own communities.
