Toolkits

This section provides access to toolkits and other guides related to rural issues.  If you have any suggestions of any useful guides that might be included here, please contact us.

Rural economy

New  First Stop Local Shop Retail Support Toolkit

Forest of Dean District Council has published a free interactive 'Toolkit' designed to help Market Towns attract shoppers back to their local High Streets. The toolkit shares the experiences of running the 'First Stop Local Shop' campaign - how each scheme was set up, introduced and what was achieved.  http://www.firststoplocalshop.co.uk/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=5185

Food Tourism Toolkit

An online food and drink tourism toolkit by the East of England Tourist Board and Tastes of Anglia to provide hotels, pubs and restaurants with information on local produce.  There is practical advice on how to support the local economy and a variety of case studies.  The toolkit stems from research carried out by EETB with funding from the Countryside Agency. http://www.foodanddrinktoolkit.co.uk/

Green Audit toolkits for tourism businesses

The Green Audit toolkit, prepared by English Tourism Council and the Countryside Agency, gives help and advice for small tourism businesses wanting to benefit from operating their business in a more sustainable way, to have a more positive impact and save money.  http://www.greenauditkit.org/

The pub is the hub: A good practice guide

The Countryside Agency, the British Beer and Pub Association and Business in the Community have worked together to produce this guide.  The aim is to encourage breweries, managers, landlords and local communities to use their entrepreneurial skills, together with resources available to them, to help to retain and enhance vital rural services, bolster the rural economy and at the same time benefit the local community. Go to toolkit

Tourism Guidance for Market Towns

A step by step guide produced by the Countryside Agency and Tourism South East to provide market towns with the information and tools they need to make the most of their tourism assets.  Download guide (252kb)

Soil Association Toolkit on Local Food Enterprise

This toolkit is for people who want to set up farm shops, farmers’ markets, allotment groups or other local food enterprises.  It covers advice on business plans, legal structures, finance and gives examples of different types of local food initiatives.  It can be downloaded free from www.soilassociation.org/localfood or printed copies are available £15 from the Soil Association on 0117 9142446 or sass@soilassociaton.org

Social Enterprise Toolkit for Community Food Projects

SUSTAIN has launched the “SAUCE Toolkit”, an online social enterprise toolkit for community food projects.  The site explores the potential for community food projects to engage with social enterprise methods as a means of securing greater financial security.  http://www.sauce-toolkit.org

Business in the Community guides on local sourcing of food

BITC has produced three guides to help small businesses work with retailers and the catering sector. http://www.bitc.org.uk/programmes/programme_directory/rural_action/food_and_farming.html

Farmers' Markets Toolkit

This toolkit, produced by the Countryside Agency and East of England Development Agency, and endorsed by FARMA, is intended as a resource for both potential and present organisers of Farmers' Markets.  It is available on CD-ROM and includes case studies, information about funding, ideas for promoting markets, and ready-to-use surveys. For a FREE copy, call the Countryside Agency on 01223 273572.

EFFP toolkits on collaboration and cooperation for farmers' groups

English Farming and Food Partnerships are using a new toolkit developed under the Defra Demonstration Farm project, which focuses on developing collaboration and cooperation to supply markets or for other purposes. For more details, contact Richard Self, EFFP Regional Manager, on 01379 586622 or mobile 07843 634095. EFFP website

Guides for the owners of small woods and makers of wood products

The Forestry Commission, the Small Woods Association, the Countryside Agency and the England Forest Industries Partnership have produced two booklets to provide straightforward advice to owners of small woods and makers of wood products.  They cover woodland products reviews, a section on how and when to sell timber, advice on presenting products to the market, preparing timber for sale, business plans, researching markets, advertising and promotion. 
Download guide for owners of small woods 874kb
Download guide for makers of wood products 2,448kb

Woodland Commercial Recreation Toolkit

The Woodland Commercial Recreation Toolkit is an interactive website aimed at existing or prospective woodland owners and managers seeking new ways to make money from their lands and woods.  It is an analysis and business advisory package.  It details when and how to seek professional advice and demonstrates how recreation, leisure and tourism activities can provide a financial return in a sustainable manner alongside other woodland priorities such as timber production and biodiversity.  The website, Naturally Active, is the result of a cross agency approach involving East of England Development Agency, East of England Tourist Board, Forestry Commission, Sport England.

Access to services

Wheels to work good practice guide

Wheels to Work (W2W) schemes provide an innovative way of overcoming barriers to accessing training, education and employment opportunities due to lack of transport. The Countryside Agency has produced a detailed guide to help those involved in setting up W2W schemes. http://www.countryside.gov.uk/Publications/articles/Publication_tcm2-4280.asp

Taxi voucher schemes toolkit

This Countryside Agency toolkit provides information and pointers that will help local groups set up a simple and effective scheme in response to their specific transport needs. The advice in the toolkit is largely based on the experience of the members and organisers of the Tandridge Taxi Voucher Scheme, which was one of the first to be set up in the UK, and which now has over 500 members. The toolkit also includes examples of two smaller voucher schemes that have been established in rural communities. Download   907kb

The way ahead for rural services - a guide to good practice in locating rural services

A Defra publication to assist public sector decision-makers, service planners and practitioners.  The guide complements the Countryside Agency's Rural proofing policy-makers' checklist, and is a tool to assess the impacts of any contemplated change to rural service provision at the local and sub-regional level, such as provision of a GP surgery or a school reorganisation.
Download 239Kb

The pub is the hub: A good practice guide

The Countryside Agency, the British Beer and Pub Association and Business in the Community have worked together to produce this guide.  The aim is to encourage breweries, managers, landlords and local communities to use their entrepreneurial skills, together with resources available to them, to help to retain and enhance vital rural services, bolster the rural economy and at the same time benefit the local community. Go to toolkit

Community Shops

The Village Retailers Services Association (ViRSA) has compiled a series of advice sheets covering all aspects of setting up and running a community-owned village shop.     http://www.virsa.org/index.cfm/villageshop/Advice.Home

Rural communities

Ways to tackle climate change guide for parish and town councils

"Ways to tackle climate change" (pdf)  is a new Defra publication aimed at parish and town councils. The guide showcases the impressive work which many parish and town councils are doing and promotes useful ideas of how to combat climate change.

Going Carbon Neutral -  Our footprint our journey: the Ashton Hayes toolkit

The Cheshire village of Ashton Hayes (pop. 1000 approx.) is aiming to to become the first small community in England to achieve carbon neutral status. This toolkit has been developed by Ashton Hayes Parish Council in conjunction with the University of Chester to help like-minded communities in preparing for their own carbon neutral projects.

The toolkit contains all the elements Ashton Hayes has employed in a campaign that began on 26th January 2006 at Ashton Hayes Primary School. This proved to be a truly remarkable evening. Around 400 people from this tiny village braved a freezing cold night to find out how they might work together to stem climate change. Never in the village's history had they seen such a turnout.

Find out more about Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral

To download the toolkit, click on the following link ( 4.2 MB -   NB: this will take approx. 1 minute to download) Download ashton_hayes_toolkit.pdf

Create a Council

This toolkit is designed to be of benefit to individuals and community groups who are seeking the creation of a parish council in their local area. It has been developed by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) with kind co-operation from county associations of local councils, Participation Matters as well as a number of parish and town councils.  Go to toolkit

Create a Youth  Council

According to the Office of National Statistics, nearly a quarter of our national population is made up of people under the age of eighteen. They may not yet be able to vote yet but it is essential that these people are not ignored in our communities. This toolkit, developed by the National Association of Local Councils, provides advice and guidance to those wishing to establish a youth council. Go to toolkit

Parish and Community Planning Toolkit

This Toolkit has been developed by ACRE to help you undertake your Community or Parish Plan and to ensure that it is robust and inclusive, so that it is effective in achieving your needs and acts as an influence on the strategic policies within your Local Authority and partner organisations. Go to toolkit

Planning for vital communities - Good practice in linking parish plans, market town plans and community plans

This Countryside Agency guide is aimed at all those involved in preparing Parish Plans, Market Towns Action Plans and Community Strategies. It attempts to show how the gap between the policies and perspectives of the bodies with power, and the knowledge and aspirations of the local communities themselves can be 'bridged' by linking local community-led Parish and Market Town Action Plans to the wider LSPs and Community Strategies. Download 757kb

Wired-Up Communities Practitioners Toolkit

This toolkit is a guide to planning, setting up and running a community based ICT project, whether it is in a deprived inner city area or a remote and isolated rural community. Aimed at community practitioners, local authorities, researchers and governmental policy makers, the toolkit draws upon the experience of the seven Wired Up Communities pilot projects that have been running since early 2001.
http://www.intelligentcommunities.org.uk/toolkit/

Communications

A toolkit from the Economic and Social Research Council giving advice on communications including communication strategies, media relations, websites, branding, events, publicity material. http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/

Rural Sport and Recreation Toolkit

The Rural Sport and Recreation Toolkit is an interactive website to inform and guide those engaged in designing, developing and implementing community activities.  The toolkit offers a range of innovation options, including case studies of "real-life" projects that are helping to increase access to sport and physical activity in many isolated areas.  The site also can direct you to a range of helpful contacts and resources that could support you in shaping your approach.  The toolkit was commissioned by the East of England Rural Sport & Recreation Network. The website, at Naturally Active, is the result of a cross agency approach involving East of England Development Agency, East of England Tourist Board, Forestry Commission, Sport England.

Safeguarding Children Resource Pack for Bedfordshire

Rural policy

Toolkit for facilitating rural delivery: how to oil the wheels of rural revival

The rural facilitation toolkit (, 60 pages, 517 KB) provides checklists against which the capacity of a rural local authority to bring about regeneration can be assessed, as well as guidance on working with Regional Development Agencies. The tool was commissioned by the IDeA in partnership with Defra, the Local Government Association, the Countryside Agency and eight beacon councils.  Printed copies are available from the IDeA. Call: 020 7296 6880 or click on the above link to download it.

East of England Sustainable Development Toolkit for policy and project appraisal

The East of England Regional Assembly  and the East of England Sustainable Development Round Table have developed A Sustainable Development Framework for the East of England.  It is intended that the Framework be used as a template for guiding partner organisations in the Region when drawing up their own strategies and action plans. To support this, there is an interactive on-line toolkit, the broad aim of which is to highlight the economic, environmental and social impacts of policies, development proposals and other new initiatives within the region and provide information which can help to improve them.  Go to toolkit

Planning for vital communities - Good practice in linking parish plans, market town plans and community plans

This Countryside Agency guide is aimed at all those involved in preparing Parish Plans, Market Towns Action Plans and Community Strategies. It attempts to show how the gap between the policies and perspectives of the bodies with power, and the knowledge and aspirations of the local communities themselves can be 'bridged' by linking local community-led Parish and Market Town Action Plans to the wider LSPs and Community Strategies. Download 757kb

Rural Crime crime reduction toolkit

People who live in rural areas fall victims to the same types of crime and disorder as people elsewhere and suffer the same types of problems. These problems may be compounded by other aspects of rural life; for example, a lack of services, physical isolation and social exclusion.  There are also crimes that are peculiar to the countryside, such as thefts of livestock and farm equipment, wildlife crime and mass trespass. This Government toolkit brings together information on the latest developments, research findings and promising approaches. It is designed to help partners identify problems, develop responses and practical measures, and monitor progress.  http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/toolkits/rc00.htm

The way ahead for rural services - a guide to good practice in locating rural services

A Defra publication to assist public sector decision-makers, service planners and practitioners.  The guide complements the Countryside Agency's Rural proofing policy-makers' checklist, and is a tool to assess the impacts of any contemplated change to rural service provision at the local and sub-regional level, such as provision of a GP surgery or a school reorganisation.
Download 239Kb

Rural proofing

Rural proofing – policy makers checklist

The Countryside Agency checklist is a screening tool, designed to help policy makers
consider whether their policy is likely to have a different impact in rural areas. It is meant to be applied from the early stages of policy making, although it may also be used during implementation and evaluation.  The checklist can be downloaded, or can be worked through on-line.  The Countryside Agency on-line site provides additional guidance and links to data and information, rural solutions and good practice examples.
Download: CA rural proof policy  40Kb, or visit the Countryside Agency Rural-Proofing On-Line site:  http://www.countryside.gov.uk/

Countryside Agency Rural Proofing Delivery Checklist

This checklist is aimed mainly at Government Offices and other regional policy bodies, with a greater emphasis on delivery.
Download 108Kb

Local Area Agreements - 'Thinking Rural'

The Commission for Rural Communities has prepared guidance notes to support those involved in preparing Local Area Agreements to "rural proof" them by considering the implications for rural areas and how to respond to their needs.  Local Area Agreements are the primary agreements between central government and local authorities and their partners.  Negotiations on the agreements will be taking place over the next few months. The Government recently published the national indicator set for the performance framework for local authorities.  Download 94kB

Countryside Agency Local Strategic Partnership and Community Strategy Rural Checklist

This Countryside Agency checklist is to help LSP members and those responsible for Community Strategies to review the objectives and working methods of the partnership, the issues covered and the monitoring of the Community Strategy to take into account rural needs and circumstances.
Download 122Kb

Thinking Rural Within Local Public Service Agreements

The second generation of Local Public Service Agreements presents renewed opportunities to “think rural” and to develop agreements which will benefit rural communities.   The Countryside Agency, Defra, IDeA and LGA have produced four briefing notes to:

• offer practical guidance on the LPSA process Download 113Kb
• suggest how setting targets can be rural proofed       Download 153Kb
• give examples of outcome focussed targets and the role of proxies Download 137Kb
• signpost sources of help.  Download  107Kb

Rural-Proofing Toolkit for Health Services

The Institute of Rural Health has launched a new toolkit for Primary Healthcare Organisations, jointly funded by Defra and the Department of Health  It describes the evidence base for rural health commissioning and areas that are often overlooked in commissioning health services in rural areas.  It also considers patient and public involvement in health service policy, where rural communities can find themselves at a real disadvantage by not being able to easily access public meetings.  The toolkit can be found at:
http://www.ruralhealthgoodpractice.org.uk/

Rural proofing: a guide for the skills community

With the help of employer-led Sector Skills Councils, the Commission for Rural Communities has tailored the rural proofing assessment process for the skills community.  The newly published guide will help Sector Skills Councils and other organisations understand the skills and training needs of their rural clients and consider when and how to adjust their representation, priorities and programmes to match these needs.
 Download  857Kb. 

The CRC has also published “Skills Development and Deficiencies in Rural England’, which is an analysis of responses from rural employers to the National Employers Skills Survey 2005. This analysis of employer responses allows the 25 sector skills councils (SSCs) to understand the profile of their sectors in rural England, identify skills deficiencies and recruitment challenges faced by their rural customers.

Rural-proofing the Shared Priorities: A decision makers’ guide

The Commission for Rural Communities and the Society for Chief Executives in Local Government (SOLACE) have jointly produced a guide to rural proofing the five ‘shared priorities’ that were agreed by central and local government in 2002. Sustainable Communities; Safer and Stronger Communities; Healthier Communities (including Older People); Children and Young People and Transport. These are the focus of much local authority and partnership activity such as Community Strategies, and Local Area Agreements. 
Download 1,270Kb

Guidelines for rural stress-proofing

This resource pack has been produced by Defra and the Rural Stress Information Network to help policy makers, managers and agencies understand the causes and effects of rural stress,  to encourage the avoidance of unnecessary stress as a result of policy impact and to support front line staff dealing with rural people and businesses. 
Download 1,421Kb

Access All Areas: Meeting the needs of rural communities

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)  launched a new guide at its Rural Conference on 1 February.  The guide aims to provide voluntary and community organisations with an introduction to rural proofing, explaining why it is important and providing ideas on how you could start rural proofing your work.  It has been developed with a Steering Group made up of voluntary sector representatives and draws on existing guides and voluntary sector good practice.
Download 340Kb

Citizens Advice Bureau Guide to rural-proofing

A guide produced jointly by the Rural Bureaux Network and Citizens Advice.
Download 150Kb

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