Action In Rural Sussex

Following the widespread survey of our rural retailers in February 2010, we are now pleased to announce the availability of a Grant Aid Scheme to help support independent rural retailers in their longer-term viability and/or help them support their local community by enhancement of the services offered.

The most common form of support that was felt to be most worthwhile / needed was some modest financial assistance.  Rural retailers will be able to apply for a maximum grant of £500.

To be eligible for the grant retailers must be based in the rural areas of Wealden District, ie outside of the main towns of Crowborough, Hailsham, Heathfield, Polegate or Uckfield.

If you would like to apply please click on the link below for further details and an application form:

http://www.wealdenbusinesshelp.org.uk/News_and_Opportunities/News/WBH_News_Articles/ruralgrant.aspx

The Number 10 petition to the Prime Minister for a specific Big Lottery fund for rural community buildings is now closed. We are pleased to say that the Prime Minister’s Office have now responded to the petition and announced that the Big Lottery will now be launching a fund for rural community buildings under the Reaching Communities Fund in the Autumn.

Action in rural Sussex is very pleased that the petition has been successful  and for its role in influencing this decision . AirS  would like to thank all of those supporters who signed the petition over the last 18 months.

AirS continues to lobby to public sector bodies raising the profile of rural community buildings as essential for the life of rural communities. AirS also continues to provide support and advice to community building committees and to those interested in improving the provision of  local facilities and services within rural communities.

Details of these services can be found under What we Do section of this website.

The Marquis of Abergavenny with Tess Flower (Co Owner) and Lauren Norwood (Manager) at the Awards Ceremony at the South of England Show on the 10 June 2010.

For more details about The Village Shop and Upper Dicker please click here.

Research has recently been released into the impacts of Post Office closures across West Sussex as part of the process of reducing the number of Post Offices nationally through the Network Change Programme implemented by Post Office Ltd which was undertaken from 2007 onwards. To obtain a copy of the full report or copies of the individual chapters, please click here.

To determine the effects of this closure programme, West Sussex County Council commissioned the University of Chichester to undertake a research study to investigate in detail the impact of post office closures, both on other businesses and on the communities themselves. This looked at the social, economic and environmental consequences of these closures. In addition to investigating the impacts, the report presents a series of recommendations as to how the effects of the closures may be mitigated.

The Energy Saving Trust’s Green Community Hero Awards, in conjunction with the Guardian, aims to celebrate and promote the achievements of the nation’s most inspiring community projects and groups. 

The five categories you can enter under are:

Best Rural Community Project and Urban Community Project

Most Innovative Project

Most Sustained activity by a community group

Outstanding contribution by an individual

To find out more go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/greencommunityheroes

Village SOS is a major new initiative from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) and the BBC.  It is searching for six UK villages with a great business idea and six enterprising individuals to help them achieve their ambitions.  Together they will create a brand new venture that will bring life and energy to the village, with funding of up to £400,000 from BIG.  Click here for more details.

The Arthur Rank Centre is committed to supporting the rural community, and has set up the “Computers for Rural People” scheme to provide computers at very low cost to encourage people to take the first step. It is providing competitively priced refurbished computers pre-loaded with Microsoft software, and delivered to your door with 3 months warranty. A fully functioning computer costs as little as £99. The scheme will also provide computers for Community Projects, with discounts for schemes seeking to purchase multiple machines.  

More information on the scheme can be found below, or using the link.

http://www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk/projects/computers_for_rural_people/index.html

How to order.
Call, email or write to us at:-
02476 853066  info@arthurrankcentre.org.uk
Computers for Rural People,
The Arthur Rank Centre,
Stoneleigh Park,
Warwickshire.  CV8 2LZ

The Arthur Rank Centre has made an arrangement with the global charity Oasis, to supply re-furbished computers.

Currently we can offer at £99
256Mb Memory System   (1Gb Memory System for £129)
With a minimum specification of:
Pentium4/Celeron 1.5Ghz,   20Gb disk
17″ Branded CRT Monitor, Branded keyboard and mouser
USB ports, Network Interface, sound

This range will be expanded soon, to include Laptops too.

All computers come pre-installed with:
Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003
3 months Warranty and FREE DELIVERY**!!

We ask that you make a voluntary donation of £12 minimum to
The Arthur Rank Centre to cover our costs and support our charitable activities.