Lottery Project to give North Yorkshire Rural Groups a Voice

Voluntary and community groups in North Yorkshire are to receive extra support through the three year Big Lottery funded project, “Rural Voice”.

The Rural Voice project will provide voluntary and community groups with free health checks to make sure that they are up to speed with legislative requirements and have access to all the services that they need.  To do this, Rural Network Officers have been employed to work in Hambleton, Ryedale, Craven, Harrogate Borough, Scarborough Borough and Richmondshire. 

Through working closely with groups, the Rural Network Officers can put organisations in touch with a variety of support including training on the new Vetting and Barring system, grant access, fundraising advice and HR support.

In addition, the project will work with groups to make sure that their voice is represented at a district, regional and national level. 

Sarah Bowden, the project’s Coordinator says “Many groups are unaware of the fantastic array of support, services and training that’s out there, so this is a unique opportunity for groups to work with a specialist advisor who can give free bespoke advice to suit their needs.

We want to empower organisations to ensure that their voice is heard; it’s imperative that groups have the opportunity to influence the policies which affect them.

An Officer is also in post to support Black, Minority and Ethnic groups in North Yorkshire in a bid to improve their representation and to support groups as they access services.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Groups in Hambleton will be able to attend a special event on Tuesday 27th April (2-4pm) at Bedale Town Hall where Kathryn Chapman (Hambleton’s Rural Network Officer) will be holding an open house advice event alongside the Funding Advice Network, Community Accounting Network North Yorkshire and the University of the Third Age.

A similar event will take place on Thursday 15th April in Ryedale, where Rural Network Officer Maggie Farey will be taking the RYEPOD out to remote rural areas along with other service providers to meet with voluntary and community groups.

To find out more about these events or to arrange a meeting with a  Rural Network Officer please contact Sarah Bowden at sarah.bowden@ruralyorkshire.org.uk / 0845 313 0270.

<< back