We can reveal today (23 January), that Action in Rural Sussex is to set up a business support footprint in Pevensey Bay. The news is likely to attract interest from local small business owners.—Bay Life, 23 January 2019
Important stakeholder organisation in county related to the rural economic challenges sets up business support footprint in Pevensey Bay
The organisation dates back to 1931 and is staffed by some of the most experienced and dedicated staff in the county.
The Pevensey Bay Journal said “our view is that Action in Rural Sussex is one of the most important stakeholder organisations in the county related to the rural economic challenges that we face”.
The paper added “this organisation is of such potential importance in our view, to the future of Pevensey Bay, that we should roll out the red carpet and welcome them with open arms, so much can be done to support the local business profile and develop a recognisable local business infrastructure, so little done has been done”.
Savvy Pevensey Parish Councillor, Shirley McKinnon, who organises the Pevensey Parish Community Day each year, has already invited the organisation to be part of the big day in the Bay in April.
The work of Action in Rural Sussex here in Pevensey Bay is supported by a grant from the European Union Regional Development fund.
Simon Montgomery, editor of the Pevensey Bay Journal, said, “we need experienced people here who understand the local economic and social context, with the connection with major local authority players and Government, to make things happen”.
“Amonsgt the staff at Action in Rural Sussex we find people of that calibre, including one person, for example, a trustee, who has worked with the Cabinet Office”.
Action in Rural Sussex is part of the wider network, ACRE. Action with Communities in Rural England is the national voice for the 38 rural community councils who make up the country’s largest rural network. Together, they reach 52,000 grassroots organisations in 11,000 rural communities.
In the 2015 Rural Manifesto of ACRE, Health, Wealth and Access, Janice Banks, the Chief Executive, said “ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) is the national voice for the 38 rural community councils who make up the ACRE Network. Through our work with communities, we have a deep understanding of how Government policy affects the everyday lives of the 20% of the population who live in the countryside.This manifesto sets out our key rural challenges for the next Government, focusing on the themes of health, wealth and access”.
Simon said, “Action in Rural Sussex coming to Pevensey Bay can be seen as a possible sea change moment in our fortunes,
“I believe that the unique challenges faced by the locality will now get noticed, perhaps properly for the first time in many years. We may now not just get noticed, there may be action at long last in the development of a meaningful local business infrastructure. This notice is desperately required. Perhaps some proper local business regeneration can now begin”.
Action in Rural Sussex has already held two business networking meetings in Pevensey Bay in the last three months.
The decision today to establish some kind of footprint here will see their role extend.
In their media release offered to the community in Pevensey Bay today (23 January), Action in Rural Sussex says “Rural communities across East Sussex are full of small businesses and enterprises many run by a single person, often from home or a small business facility.
Talking about the next event in Pevensey Bay, they say, “Running a business or developing an idea into a business can be challenging, particularly when doing so on your own. Complying with regulations and rules can be overwhelming and scary, and many businesses aren’t sustainable or don’t grow as their owners wish, often because identifying and accessing cost-effective support is seen as difficult, expensive or not a valuable use of their time.
“This event is part of a new initiative which seeks to provide an informal forum for local people to come together and explore both specific and general business issues, but also to hear about the wide range of FREE business support on offer to assist them in growing their business and running it effectively”.
The events are managed through a network of ‘village agents’ with a role to support local initiatives.
ArS says’ the Village Agents are a team of experienced rural community development specialists who work with local people to develop innovative and effective ways to bring services closer to rural people.The overall aim is to improve access to services for rural communities, to foster local provision and local solutions to identified issues and to improve the overall quality of life for all.
“Each Village Agent covers a specific geographical areas, often several adjoining parishes. Over time they get to know each community, building up their knowledge and understanding of what happens there and what gaps and local improvements in services have been identified”.
Through their village agent scheme, here in Pevensey Bay, we may begin to see Acton in Rural Sussex working with community leaders, organisations and residents to find solutions to issues and improve local services.
Talking about what Action in Rural Sussex may be able to do, Simon pointed to the kinds of people who are already coming forward with business ideas that may be seeking support.
He said, “I talked to an artist entrepreneur today who has wanted to set up a gallery in Pevensey Bay for two years. I suggested that the new Action in Rural Sussex business support footprint might be able to help”.
The first of these new business events in Pevensey Bay takes place on Monday 25 February 2019 between 18:00 – 19:30 at St Wilfrid’s Church Hall.
Tickets available here from Eventbrite
We understand that behind the scenes there has been lobbying to bring Action in Rural Sussex to Pevensey Bay from a number of local businesses.
Congratulations to the small volunteer team now beginning to run this network in Pevensey Bay with the support of Action in Rural Sussex.
