Cambridgeshire Rural Challenge

Read the Cambridgeshire Rural Challenge blog

About the approach

Cambridgeshire Rural Challenge will develop new approaches to community-led planning for rural areas, which will lead to community-led action projects taking place, run by local people.

Key to the innovative approach is combining the community development expertise of Cambridgeshire ACRE and Young Lives - a specialist youth work agency - to create a new partnership approach to galvanising community-led action.

Interactive and visual methods will be developed to appeal to young people who traditionally do not engage in planning processes. New community development techniques will be used to involve the wider community, including an incentive competition.

A total of £6,000 is being made available across two parishes for incentive competitions to fund work that takes forward Neighbourhood Plan ideas.

About the organisations

The lead: Cambridgeshire ACRE

Cambridgeshire ACRE is a well-established, national charity that seeks to provide encouragement, practical help and support to communities in rural parishes to enable them to plan and develop as vibrant places to live and work. ACRE works alongside rural communities to empower them to take local action on local issues such as community facilities, provision of affordable housing, community led planning and building the rural economy.

Through Neighbourhood Challenge Cambridgeshire ACRE will build on its community-led planning work, testing new approaches and engagement techniques. The localism agenda provides a focus for this work. Cambridgeshire ACRE also hopes to support parish councils to feel more confident in leading their communities, and are better placed to take on the responsibilities that are outlined in the Localism Bill.

Expert Partner: Young Lives

Founded in 2006, Young Lives is a charity that aims to support children and young people to lead happy, healthy and safe lives and maximise their potential. It has two main work streams: participation and active citizenship, as well as supporting voluntary organisations working with children and young people.

Young lives brings its skills in engaging and building relationships with young people, a group often overlooked in community-led planning processes, to Cambridgeshire Rural Challenge.

About the neighbourhood

Cambridgeshire Rural Challenge will work in four parishes of different sizes: Prickwillow, Tydd St Giles, Pidley-cum-Fenton; and Somersham. The parish populations range from around 300 to 4,000. All are affected by a general decline in local rural services including the closure of post offices, shops, pubs and youth facilities.

Within all four communities there is the potential to engage a wider range of people in local decision-making. Cambridgeshire County Council is keen to start to devolve powers to local levels and work alongside communities and parish councils to coproduce local services. Cambridgeshire Rural Challenge provides the opportunity to try out some new ways to make this happen.