Defra has today launched the Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF) with confirmed funding of £20m. The RCBF is jointly funded by Defra and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), and complements BDUK’s mainstream broadband rollout programme. The Fund enables the funding of superfast broadband projects in the most hard to reach areas in England, bringing superfast broadband to a greater number of communities than would otherwise be reached. This will ensure that a greater proportion of businesses and consumers in those communities can take advantage of the benefits of superfast broadband. The Fund is being delivered as part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). More information about the fund and details on how to apply can be found on Defra’s RDPE Network webpage http://rdpenetwork.defra.gov.uk/funding-sources/rural-community-broadband-fund The RCC is working closely with Leicestershire County Council on Rural Broadband issues. For more information about local initiatives contact dcook@ruralcc.org.uk 01162689706

The new edition of the Green Directory, which documents local community-led environmental action in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland has just been released.

The directory lists hundreds of community groups, environmental projects and support organisations that are helping the region work towards a more sustainable and secure future.

Its contents include details of the first solar panel installations on village halls in Leicestershire, information on new local allotment schemes and a comprehensive listing of community orchards, farmers markets and green events across the local area.

The directory can be downloaded for free from the RCC website: www.ruralcc.org.uk/green-directory. Free hard copies are available for RCC members - for information on joining the RCC go to www.ruralcc.org.uk.

Andrew Reeves from the Communities Cutting Carbon project said “The Green Directory is an inspiring place to look for ideas on practical environmental action that you can take where you live to have a positive impact in your community.”

The directory has been produced by Communities Cutting Carbon, a project based at the Rural Community Council (RCC) that is delivered in partnership with De Montfort University and each of the local authorities in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Fifteen new case study posters have just been released by the Communities Cutting Carbon project, sharing information on a wide range of successful community-led environmental projects from Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The case studies include details of how new allotments were set up Leicestershire villages in Billesdon and Ashby Parva, information about solar panel installations in a Sikh temple in Leicester and the village hall in Bottesford and a unique recycling collection scheme in Tilton on the Hill.

Each case study provides invaluable information and inspiration for anyone interested in similar projects, including how the project was initiated and funded and its achievements, successes and challenges.

The full set of close to 30 local case studies can be downloaded for free from the Communities Cutting Carbon website: www.ruralcc.org.uk/ccc-case-studies.

Communities Cutting Carbon is a Knowledge Transfer Partnership project, involving the Rural Community Council (Leicestershire and Rutland), De Montfort University and each of the local authorities in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

For further information, contact Andrew Reeves on areeves@ruralcc.org.uk or 0116 268 9718.

An outcome of the Shepshed Community Plan was the formation of a ‘Community Speedwatch’ group.
Three meetings were held during September for the ‘Speedwatch’ group of volunteers to meet Mike Wilson the Leicestershire County Council ‘Speedwatch’ Co-ordinator, receive training and some practical experience of the skills needed to carry out the tasks.
The group completed their first block of two weeks using the portable speed gun provided on loan to the group by Mike Wilson between 3rd and 30th October 2011.
106 offenders were recorded.
The group plan to operate for a further two weeks in the spring of 2012 in order to fulfil their commitments.

A free drop-in event will take place in Congerstone on Wednesday 2nd November to enable local residents to learn how to save money on their domestic fuel bills.

The event will take place from 3.30pm to 6.30pm at Congerstone Village Hall, and will feature expert advice on insulation and renewable energy options, details of free insulation currently available in Hinckley and Bosworth, and information on how to take advantage of the financial support for installing renewable energy. Drinks and light refreshments will be available.

The event forms part of the Congerstone Energy Audit – a project taking place this autumn to map the energy efficiency of the village’s homes, and to identify support to help householders cut their spending on fuel.

Community volunteers from the Gopsall E Group have been carrying out a survey of local householders and five households will benefit from a detailed energy audit from a qualified expert.

The Congerstone Village Energy Audit is part of the FREE (Future of Rural Energy in Europe) energy advice programme. FREE is delivered in Leicestershire by the Rural Community Council (RCC), in partnership with National Energy Action, and is sponsored by Calor Gas Ltd.

For further information contact Peter Harris from Gopsall E Group on peter@pcpharris.plus.com or call 01827 881419.

Having ‘wassailed’ the apple trees in the Donisthorpe Community Orchard in January this year, the Oakthorpe, Donisthorpe and Acresford Parish Plan Group organised their first ‘Apple Day’ on Saturday 8th October 2011.
The Leicestershire Heritage apple group attended and gave demonstrations of propagation techniques . A horticultural expert provided an interesting display of 25 apple varieties and also identified apples brought to the event by the public.
There was apple bobbing, an apple peeling competition, a quiz amongst other attractions. The most popular attraction was the apple press, whilst the story teller kept children and adults spellbound.
The Donisthorpe Apple book was on sale to raise money for future events.
In the evening a harvest barn dance which included a fish and chip supper, was held at the Moira’s Miner’s Welfare Club.

The Steering Committee of the Shepshed Community Plan were delighted with the turn out for their launch event on Monday 26th September 2011. After more than 12 months of extremely hard work, the event was deemed a great success by all! The main part of the evening took the form of a ‘Community Café’, intended to
generate more interest in specific topics and hopefully get more people involved in forming sub-committees for the various action groups! The ‘Community Café’ generated a lot of proactive discussion and residents were given the opportunity to find out more about specific topics and contribute their own ideas.

There were eight topics open for debate at the event: ‘Traffic and Transport’, Local Food’, ‘Environment’, ‘Youth’, ‘Communication’, Leisure, Sport and the Arts’, ‘Business’ and ‘Events’. Residents chose two topic tables and were given the opportunity to speak informally to representatives of the various Service Providersincluding the Police, Leicestershire County Council, Charnwood District Council, Shepshed Town Council and others. County and District Councillors were also in attendance in addition to Nicky Morgan MP.

Most of these topics were chosen as a result of data gathered from the responses to the Shepshed Community Plan questionnaire, distributed earlier this year. An analysis of these responses had
concluded that most people recognised that many householders are using Shepshed as a dormitory town, driving elsewhere, to work, for leisure, for adult education and for shopping. Respondents wanted to see good leisure centre provision in Shepshed and more play areas for younger children.

The questionnaire also highlighted extensive concerns about parking, speeding, litter, and the general appearance of the town. Most people wish to see the centre of Shepshed as more vibrant, with more extensive community provision.

The event was closed by the cutting of the Shepshed Community Plan cake, which was made in Shepshed, an apt ending to the evening!

Sustainable Billesdon Group are organising a packed day of family-friendly activities to take place on Sunday 23rd October from 11am to 3pm at the Coplow Centre.

At the FREE family fund day, you will be able to...

* Bring your bike for servicing
* Learn about energy from Billesdon School and an expert consultant
* Pedal your way to a delicious smoothie
* Make a bird box
* Whizz around on a scooter
* Create a Sculpture from Scrap
* Buy tea and cakes by the WI, and hot food from some of the market stalls
* Watch a cooking demo
* Enter the fantastic raffle and win quiz prizes

The farmers’ market will include: Seldom Seen Farm, Langton Brewery, Picks organic farm shop, Bittersweet chocolates, Lucy’s Food, Keythorpe Game, Riverford organic vegetables, Hedgerow Products, Jackie Jordan’s jam, Jo Walkden’s spotty biscotti, Billesdon honey, Welland Valley Rapeseed oil, Manor Farm Yogurt and cup cakes. There will be tasting opportunities and a chance to see a brilliant cookery demo by Lucy of Lucy’s Food …. and MUCH MORE!

Funding to support the event came from a SHIRE grant from Leicestershire County Council.

Community groups from across Leicestershire & Rutland gathered to find out if they had won an award in the Rural Community Council (Leicestershire & Rutland) Village Achievement Awards.

Over 100 people gathered at The Rothley Centre on September 22nd to witness communities from Whissendine (Rutland), Kibworth Beauchamp (Harborough), and Appleby Magna (North West Leicestershire) receive the winners award in the three categories of the competition for their locally run projects. Each of the 3 received a winners gold certificate and a cheque for £100.00.

Whissendine took the honour in the Community category for their entry based around their Good Neighbour Scheme.
This scheme has been developed within the last eighteen months as a spin off from the Parish Plan. It involves the whole community to identify needs and provides valuable support to residents. Twenty-nine volunteers have formed a befriending organisation. All have been trained, CRB checked and they carry identification. Financial help and advice from the Rutland County Council, the Parish Council, the RCC and grassroots “Feast Week” supported this.
A website has been created and together with publicity in the local “Grapevine” magazine has enabled a co-ordinated transport scheme to social events in the village to be set up. The judges were impressed by the enthusiasm shown and their role in maintaining and improving the involvement in village life to all residents.

Kibworth Beauchamp beat off tough competition to win the Col John Heggs Village and Community Hall category with the range of facilities provided at their Old Grammar School premises.
The judges received an enthusiastic welcome from several of the Trustees and users of the Old Grammar School, eager to answer questions. The premises offer a good variety of cared for and welcoming accommodation with seventeen community groups regularly meeting for the excellent and varied menu of activities provided for all age groups. The main hall is used for events from Charity Auctions, Fashion Shows, Children’s Parties and two theatre groups who put on five major shows a year seating up to 170 per performance. The community programme of events is advertised in their report in the monthly Kibworth Chronicle. The Village Hall, High School and Cricket Club all work together to provide suitable venues for the community when either one is unavailable for particular requests. There is also a room provided for exclusive use by the local police beat team with 24-hour access. Use of the Community Payback Scheme to decorate parts of the premises has enabled it to be kept in good decorative order.

Appleby Magna scored highly to capture the Cleaner and Greener Category with their Thermal Imaging Project.
The project involved a majority of households in the village and after an awareness event, their properties were scanned with special equipment provided and supported by the RCC “Communities Cutting Carbon” project. The images clearly identified the scale of heat loss to each property. Advice on options were provided to reduce the heat loss and action has been taken by many residents. They have made energy saving a community issue and will hold a follow-up event (Open Eco-Houses) later this year.

Diana Cook project manager for the competition said
‘ This competition continues to impress with its range of entries. It really shows that ‘The Big Society’ is really working in Leicestershire and Rutland helped by community led planning which has played a part in many of these initiatives that have been run by volunteers. From the RCC’s point of view, the hard work and ideas of our dedicated volunteer Competitions Committee and volunteer judges has made this happen. We shall look forward to even more entries next year’

2011 Village Achievement Awards Listed in full:-http://www.ruralcc.org.uk/village-achievement-awards-2011.html

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A community speedwatch scheme has been introduced into Shepshed to help put the brakes on speeding motorists. It is a result of the town’s Community Led Plan survey, which highlighted that drivers going too fast on local roads was a problem.
The official launch event of the Shepshed Community Plan will take place on Monday 26th September 2011 at the Shepshed High School at 7pm. However a group of 12 volunteers attended the inaugral ‘Shepshed Community Speedwatch and Traffic Action Group’ meeting on Monday 5th September.
Mike Wilson the Community Speedwatch organiser from Leicestershire County Council explained to the group how the scheme works. Mr. Steve White was elected to be the co-ordinator and the first training session will take place on Monday 19, starting at 7pm at Shepshed Town Council offices, the next session will be held on Wednesday 28th September at the same time, but at the Shepshed High School on this occassion.
The Shepshed Town Council are very keen to support the reduction of speeding on the roads of Shepshed, and due to such a strong response to the Community Plan questionnaire, they have made provision for a speed camera in next year’s budget.
The group are now looking for more volunteers from the community to be trained to use speed monitoring devices on specific roads in Shepshed. These locations will be determined by the group and evidence from the Community plan results and it is likely that these locations will include Anson Road, Lambert Avenue, Hathern Road, Fairway Road, Trueway Drive, Leicester Road and Charnwood Road.