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Village SOS Active is a new campaign by the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) in collaboration with rural communities charity the Plunkett Foundation and its partners, which sees rural communities being offered advice and
support on a level never before seen.
It was launched on 10th August 2011 as part of the BBC six-part series, Village SOS, which follows the journey of six villages as they use a Big Lottery Fund grants to set up a new community enterprise. The campaign will see dedicated expert advisers provide support and guidance to people inspired by the BBC1 series to set up and run their own community enterprises, from shops and pubs to broadband services and transport systems.
Rural communities are now being urged to take advantage of a brand new advice line, expert support and Lottery funding that will help them take control of the problems of rural decline in their communities by setting up community enterprises like library services, transport schemes or community shops. With churches often playing a key role in the provision of these services - for example Yarpole community shop in Herefordshire - there is an opportunity for church groups and communities to take advantage of this new support.
The three steps for getting help with setting up a community enterprise are:
Go to www.villagesos.org.uk and register your details.
Call the Advice Line on 0845 434 9123
Come along to one of the UK wide road show events.
Alongside this support, the Big Lottery Fund has also set up a £5m funding competition that communities can enter for a chance to win a Lottery award to kick start their enterprises. The awards will be in the region of £10,000 and £30,000 per enterprise.