Rural Access to Services Programme

Welcome to the Rural Access to Services Programme web page

Rural Access to Services Programme

 The Rural Access to Services Programme, which is operating across Kent and Medway from September 2008 to June 2011, is funded by SEEDA and Kent County Council in partnership with Action with Communities in Rural Kent, Medway Council, Church in Society, Thanet Community Transport and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Maidstone Borough Council representing Kent District Councils.

 The programme aims to improve access to services throughout rural Kent and Medway by focussing on two specific areas: community shops and community transport.

 Community shops

• Community shops can play an important role at increasing access to essential grocery provision in rural areas, when commercial provision is no longer viable or possible. A community shop is ‘one where there is community involvement in setting up and/or running the shop’.
• The Rural Access to Services Programme aims to develop a cluster of community-owned shops in Kent to solve issues arising from the unavoidable closure of commercially-run grocery shops and post offices in rural areas. Specialist help is at hand to provide dedicated support to communities wishing to set up a community shop, expert advice on all aspects of the retailing operation and of setting up a social/community enterprise (not for profit organisation).  The added benefit of grant aid being available to financially assist community groups completes the offering from the project.  A greater number of community shops in villages without grocery stores will undoubtedly mean local people could walk to their shop for basic provisions, reducing the need to travel to larger towns, resulting in a more cohesive community, greener outlook and healthier lifestyle.
• If your village has lost its last grocery store or Post Office and you are interested in setting up your own community shop, have a look at the documents below which provide information on the entire process you would need to go through to organise a committee, fund raise, set up a shop and run it.  Help is available to guide you through the whole process from inception to opening day.  If you would like more information, please contact Carl Adams at Action with Communities in Rural Kent carl.adams@ruralkent.org.uk or telephone 01303 813790.

 Community Shops Handbook

 Community shops Leaflet

• This project complements the work being undertaken by ViRSA at a national level and by Kent Action for Rural Retailers (KARR) at a local level.

Community transport

• Community transport schemes can play an important and invaluable role at increasing access with rural areas – especially for the 13% of rural households that do not have private transport who otherwise could be socially isolated.  To date nearly 100 rural community transport schemes have been established across Kent and Medway.
• Community transport is a service which provides access by the most appropriate means to key services and facilitates for all who are unable to reach them by commercial bus, rail and ferry services or by private car.  Typically in Kent this can mean schemes ranging from a private car through to a fleet of minibuses.
• This programme is seeking to strengthen rural community transport provision across Kent and Medway.  In order to add value to investment that has already occurred in this sector, there is a particular focus on identifying ways that existing, successful community transport operations can move towards greater sustainability. Expert help is at hand to liaise with transport providers, help review their marketing and business plans and assist them in preparing for available grant aid.  If you would like to discuss the sustainability grant fund further, please contact Nigel Whitburn at Action with Communities in Rural Kent nigel.whitburn@ruralkent.org.uk or telephone 01303 813790.
• Project aims are to:
  - ensure greater and wider knowledge of the existence of community transport schemes that operate by launching a promotion and awareness campaign

- amend and improve outlook and provision in order to help a number of schemes to move towards greater operation sustainability

- help schemes apply for the Rural Access to Services Programme sustainability grant fund

- create and launch an operational brokerage pilot in a specified and focused to review the effectiveness and sustainability of pooling available community transport provision

 A key milestone for the project was the launch of the poster awareness campaign in June 2009.  The campaign hopes to guide existing and potential users to a new online database listing community transport schemes.  This database is hosted at www.ruralkent.org.uk/ourwork/rural-transport-map.htm where users can find the nearest community transport schemes via a postcode search function.  Those without internet access should call 01303 813790 to find the nearest scheme to them.  The poster campaign will ensure the message is wide spread to maximise the promotion of the database and availability of community transport schemes in the County.

 Community Transport Poster

RASP has limited funding for the 3-year programme, but with the targeted work described, the outcomes from both working with community shop and community transport schemes it is hoped the programme will have a visible and long lasting effect.