Village SOS

Village SOS Active is a new campaign launched to help people in rural areas set up and run community enterprises.

The campaign launched on 10 August as part of a six-part television series from the BBC called Village SOS.

The Village SOS Active campaign was set up by the Big Lottery Fund and is being delivered by rural communities charity the Plunkett Foundation, in partnership with Locality, Co-operatives UK, and Action for Communities in Rural England (ACRE).

Villages SOS Active will deliver a national advice line and expert support to rural communities inspired by the TV series to set up and run their own community enterprises, from shops and pubs to broadband services and transport systems.

As part of the support offer, Locality will provide expert advice to enterprising communities looking to develop plans in areas such as community asset transfer, neighbourhood planning, community energy enterprises and more.  The support will build on the knowledge and experience of Locality’s nationwide network of over 600 community owned and led development trusts, settlements, social action centres and community enterprises.

Village SOS is a UK-wide programme and we are delighted to be working in partnership with DTA Wales, DTA Scotland and DTA Northern Ireland to deliver this support.

The national advice line is available on 0845 434 9123. Resources and information can be found at the Village SOS website.

For further information please contact