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Visible wealth and invisible deprivation
County Durham is an area that suffers from multiple levels of deprivation
covering urban and rural communities. Whilst urban economic disadvantage has
been well documented, in rural areas the reasons of poverty are complex. For
those communities living in the countryside, problems can be masked because
the poor are often living in pockets of deprivation alongside areas of affluence.
Unemployment, skill shortages and low wages in rural County Durham are linked to a legacy of dependence on primary industries, low aspirations and difficulties in accessing training opportunities. Indicators of local rural poverty show:
Out-migration
Young people are struggling to obtain housing and work in rural areas and
as a result, homelessness has risen and many young people are moving out of
the area.
Isolation
Isolation is particularly acute for older people and for carers of the elderly
and disabled, where social contact is difficult and where there is limited
public transport. Such isolation has increased the numbers suffering from
depression and related illnesses.
Transport
Transport difficulties inhibit children from low-income families from social
interaction with other young people and many are at risk of becoming involved
in underage drinking or drug-taking. People in the lowest income group pay
on average almost 50% more on transport than people in urban areas. For many
people living in small villages in Teesdale, accessing banks, libraries and
health centres in Barnard Castle – their nearest town – means
a round trip of approximately 41miles.
Rural stress
Following the hardships caused by the recent foot & mouth disease epidemic,
rural stress is a growing concern. Isolation, work demands, difficulties of
acknowledging need and of accessing services have shown that farmers and farm
managers are 50% more likely to take their own lives than the other members
of the general public. Suicide is the most common form of death for male farmers
under the age of 44 and farmers' wives have a suicide rate 20% above the average.
Domestic violence
Domestic violence in rural areas has increased and the problems that victims
face are more acute due to a paucity of accessible support networks and safe
houses.
Education and training
People living in predominantly rural areas are less likely to undertake further
skills development than their urban counterparts due mainly to the lack of
courses run at more local venues and the cost of travelling to training venues
outside the area.
Community facilities and services
Community buildings, which have the potential to play an important role in
rural areas, are falling into decline due to insufficient funding for capital
projects, maintenance and development. Increasing demands on volunteer trustees
of village halls, such as accessibility compliance and financial sustainability,
have increased the difficulties in attracting and retaining local people to
run community buildings and morale is declining.
Economic decline
With an estimated 31,200 employees resident in West Durham and only an estimated
20,100 jobs, the area is a significant exporter of labour. The area has a
small number of very large employers, several of whom have recently made significant
numbers of redundancies. In 2002, GlaxoSmithKline reduced its workforce in
Barnard Castle by 400 and LeFarge Redland in Weardale recently closed its
cement works. Smaller scale farmers have seen their income decline over the
last decade and this, coupled with the impact of foot and mouth disease, has
led some to abandon farming altogether.
Local Initiatives
A range of initiatives delivered through various statutory organisations aims
to combat many of the above issues. Durham County Council and local Primary
Care Trusts have a wide range of economic and social recovery programmes to
support rural infrastructures and alleviate poverty.
The voluntary sector also has made considerable progress in identifying and organising projects and schemes that directly benefit the rural communities. The voluntary services are concentrating many of their resources on capacity building within community groups and projects, to enable them to deliver education and training at a local level.
There are however, many simple and direct initiatives that are community-led, which do appear to be making a significant difference and can be measured in terms of how many people become involved in changing their own lives, improving their circumstances and their community’s aspirations. Unfortunately, there also appears to be a gap in the type of provision and funding available for these community-based, small self-help groups and for those who deliver basic services (such as after-school clubs, volunteer help-lines, counselling service for vulnerable young people etc) at a grass-roots level.
County Durham Foundation rural fund aims to address this gap through raising funds to target support at long-term development in rural areas. We have been extremely successful in reaching and supporting a range of grass-roots, community-led projects and wish to use our expertise to help more people. Our dedicated Rural Fund will support, through an endowment-based small grant programme, activities such as:
Where appropriate, we will also identify and draw down matched funding to increase the impact of our work.
View some other grants funded from The Countryside Relief Fund.
