Exclusion to Inclusion

Generally our rural areas in Hertfordshire are prosperous and thriving. However, in rural areas, just as in towns and cities, people face problems relating to unemployment and low income. There are also additional barriers and issues in rural areas, particularly around access to services and resources. Rural deprivation factors are often considered ‘hidden needs’ because they are not concentrated enough to attract attention and resourcing.

CDA for Herts seeks to address these barriers that hinder opportunities for individuals and may deny access to services that are taken for granted by urban communities.

We do this in three ways:

• Talking and working with rural communities to understand local issues and needs
• Supporting communities to establish sustainable initiatives that aim to tackle inequalities associated with rural disadvantage and exclusion
• Raising awareness, disseminating information and training to enable communities to take advantage of opportunities to overcome barriers
• Advocating for the needs of rural communities and ensuring that these are addressed in higher level strategy and operations planning of other agencies

For example, we can work with local communities on:

• Community Consultation and Community Led Planning – eg Parish plans
• Broadband – supporting rural communities to access broadband infrastructure
• Identifying and developing community assets
• Digital TV switchover – our project aims to ensure no one in Herts is left with a blank screen once London TV switches to digital in April 2012

For further information please contact Emily Butterworth on (01707) 695517 or e-mail: emily.butterworth@cdaforherts.org.uk