Geography Unit 2, Unequal Spaces Case Study 6 - Tackling rural deprivation in Sussex

Action in rural Sussex (AirS) is an organisation that sets out to improve life for the most deprived sections of society in the county of East Sussex. Here are some of their strategies.Affordable rural housingMany houses in rural Sussex are too expensive for local people to afford, and as such are causing many families or single people who cannot afford them to leave the area.AirS employs a small Rural Housing Enabling team (RHE) who can provide support and impartial advice to Parish councils and rural communities on how they can get affordable housing that meets the needs of local people. The RHE's aims are to:~Act as an "honest broker" to facilitate the often lengthy and complex process of developing affordable housing schemes in rural areas to encourage sustainable communities.~Meet the needs of those people who would not be able to afford accommodation on the open market.~Work closely with village communities, Parish councils, District councils, housing associations, landowners, farmers and anyone else involved in the process of providing affordable housing.~Identify local need through housing needs surveys.~Assist with site identification in parishes where there is a proven affordable housing need.~Carry out research, policy analysis, and lobbying on rural housing issues.~Promote wider initiatives such as the use of empty properties, foyer schemes and meeting needs for supported housing.They work for both East and West Sussex with Hastoe Housing association, English Rural Housing Association, Saxon Weald and Raglan. This will help address the lack of affordable housing in the area.Family OutreachAirS is running  project called the Children's Outreach and Parents Extended Support service (COPES). Their aim is to offer tailored and non-stigmatising help to 5-13 year-olds and their families. It is designed to help improve social skills, emotional well-being and motivation to stay in school and has an impact on improving parenting capabilities and family well-being. This contributes significantly to reducing social exclusion.Children and young people are assisted with issues such as managing feelings, behaviour, anger, bullying, peer relationships, transitions, bereavements, depression and other mental health issues.Parents are assisted with boundary setting, understanding their child's behaviour and feelings, emotional support and reinforcing strengths, developing child-centred parenting techniques and how they can help with learning. Parents are also assisted with their own well-being and health and how to be more confident in relationships with schools, other agencies and their own communities.This could help with social issues like crime rates, and improve Sussex's overall school grades and standards.Food and local produceTo encourage healthier eating and the use of local prouce to boost the economy, AirS is running a number of projects:~Local produce directories~Village food activities ('growing the food' culture)~School and community orchards and fruit cookery~Farmer photos~Cookery skills~Farm food in school cookery~Village shops and farmers' marketsTwo of their projects that are running currently are Local Fruit Futures and Really Local Food Directories. AirS has planted over 25 small orchards in school grounds. An example of previous work would be in the High Weald. All schools showed an interest in local varieties and they are now working with Brighton Permaculture Trust on Local Fruit Futures to train over 1000 people in fruit tree planting and care in fruit cookery, plant a further 36 small school and community orchards, propagate hundreds of Sussex variety apple trees, plant examples of all these apples at Stanmer Park orchard and make it more accessible, produce two publications, based partly on research by the University of Sussex into the history of fruit growing in Sussex.They provided directories detailing local food producers to great success in Catsfield, Ewhurst, Herstmonceux and Ticehurst.These projects will help deal with poor health and the weak local economy by allowing farming to thrive instead of basing their economy solely on coastal tourism.Rural research and policyAirS performs research to find out the areas that most need their help. They perform research through:~Housing Needs Surveys~Community led and neighbourhood plan surveys and evidence gathering~Rural 'proofing' of policy and strategy proposals~Gathering and analysing of 'rural specific' data and statistics~Community consultations and methodology design~Analysis of research and data from third parties~Original research into key issues in communities~Input into educational courses~Presentations on key rural issuesThis could assist them in improving all areas of deprivation in East Sussex, but particularly in services and health.Village careThe Village Care Programme provides developmental support and practical help to rural communities, key activists, groups and organisations.Their current work includes:~A range of social activities; pop-in centres, lunch and social clubs, carer's support groups, activity groups.~Support groups, neighbourhood and befriending schemes, volunteer car schemes, community transport schemes.~Development of and support of day opportunities for older people.~Health promoting activities and events including cookery, nutrition, exercise, dancing, music, craft, IT and learning.~Specialist services for people with dementia and their carers.~Networking between village groups.~Partnerships with statutory and voluntary agencies to exchange information and good practice, and to develop joint projects.~Links and signposting to agencies providing local services.This helps to solve issues of an aging population and the difficulties of travelling in rural areas where there is an unreliable transport service.Young people's servicesYoung people are currently facing many challenges, and in rural areas these can be acute: finding work locally, achieving at school, family troubles, finding somewhere affordable to live, lack of access to transport, poor access to services and support. AirS particularly works on health and well-being issues with rural young people. Helping them to access support that those in more urban areas have can sometimes be taken for granted.AirS' mobile health project, Your Bus Your Call, was initially set up nder the Lottery Healthy Living Centre programme, and continues to provide assertive outreach work to young people living rurally. They work on aspects of health promotion, in groups and individually.They also provide support to volunteers, councils and groups across rural Sussex to help establish new programmes and projects for and with young people, providing training, information and advice as well as one-to-one support for activity leaders and local organisations.

Tackling rural deprivation in East Sussex