Transcript of the speech given by our Chief Executive, Kirsten Bennett, at the press launch for our Centenary celebrations

You will be glad to know that Cambridgeshire is a good place to live, with 72% people feeling very high levels of happiness and well connected to their local communities; this is in line with the national average.

However, this is less likely to be the case for specific groups with a stark finding that isolation and loneliness in Cambridgeshire is far higher than national average. Residents reported concerns about cost of living, with nearly half reporting cutting back on heating and just over a quarter said they were cutting back on essential food.

It is worth reminding ourselves that two thirds of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s population live in what are classed as rural settlements – our market towns and 280 parishes. Rurality and isolation make quality of life concerns far more acute for those that live in these areas especially where there is the absence of support networks, transport options and people are at a distance from access to essential services. We also know that in some areas of the County there are lower than national average wages and higher rents paid for housing.

Our role as advocates for rural communities is just as relevant today. What is evident is that we see a cycle of the same challenges now facing rural residents as we have been supporting over the last 100 years. I will share with you some examples linking our past work to the present to illustrate this.

Starting with rural housing, in the 1920s we were concerned about the condition of people’s cottages and lack of suitable housing for many in rural areas. Our work to sustain communities through building, quality, and affordable housing is ongoing and just as important today. Working together, the Cambridgeshire Rural Affordable Housing Partnership has developed 440 rural affordable homes across 40 rural exception sites; a record we are very proud of. Going forward the Government is keen to scale-up locally led schemes through the ACRE Network and we welcome the recent Defra funding to enable us to increase our enabling work to build more affordable homes that are urgently needed.

As another example, the first village halls were often reading rooms -somewhere for people to go to keep warm with access newspapers/ books and companionship. It occurred to me last winter that these same community spaces were once again opening their doors as ‘warm hubs’ for people to come together for companionship and gain support with health and wellbeing, energy, and financial advice. There have been over 40,000 visitors to these hubs which are now established as year-round provision and this winter we have new hubs opening their doors across 40 communities. Taking that support further, we are about to employ new community link workers – Village Agents – who will support people through listening to their needs and then connecting them with the necessary health or care services, as well as community support networks.

During wartime, the charity supported great community efforts to keep people fed, with us helping establish rabbit and pig clubs and produce collection. Today, working with our volunteers, we continue to keep people fed through the opening and running of food banks, community pantries and local community meals organised from the community hubs.

As a final example of linking the past to the present is charity’s early support of the collaboration of rural industries, encouraging rural craft businesses to work together and finding new markets for their goods. This seemed very forward thinking in the 1920s. Today our economic work continues along similar lines of collaboration between business and communities. We now work with a more diverse range of businesses having invested over £5m from EU-funded LEADER programmes to sustain and create rural jobs. Today, we support models of community-owned business, and these are increasingly needed to provide rural services such as shops and pubs that are being lost from communities.

I do wonder what our founders would consider about our world in rural Cambridgeshire today. Did they imagine we would be doing similar work 100 years later or did they think we would have resolved the rural concerns they identified?

This year gives us the opportunity to learn from the past and present and look forward to the future. This includes working with all our stakeholders to write a new strategy for the organisation to ensure that we can effectively support rural communities into the next decade.

We will undertake a Centenary Rural Survey that will give an up-to-date picture of what living in a rural community looks like in 2024. All parish councils will be sent a copy of the survey, as well as us holding focus groups with a diverse range of people who live in rural communities.

Working in collaboration with local authorities and other partners, we will organise a rural conference in each district locality. Looking to the future, the Rural Services Survey results will be revealed and the voice of rural communities heard. These will enable us to make plans for the solutions and funding support needed for the years ahead.

We are already preparing for Village Halls Week (18-24 March) where we will focus on celebrating 100 years of village halls by holding a Centenary Village Halls Network Conference, where we will look at the future of village hall management.

Rural Housing Week in July we will be an opportunity to showcase the work undertaken through the Cambridgeshire Rural Affordable Housing Partnership.

Our popular Staying Connected online seminars will celebrate by invite guest speakers to spotlight the challenges ahead bringing together learning around best practice, case studies, latest research findings and new innovations.

Our mobile exhibition will be completed by March and will be available to book by communities for display at community events, community hubs, village halls, libraries, and museums.

Lastly, we will be holding a Celebration Summer Party in Ely on 13June, which will be an event where all our supporters, members, staff (old and new) and trustees can come together to celebrate the work of the Rural Community Council.

As you can see, this is just the start of an exciting year ahead and we welcome everyone’s memories and support with not only celebrating but also continuing the success of Cambridgeshire ACRE.