What We Do: Rural Advocacy

Advocacy: Rural Voice

Action in rural Sussex performs a key role by highlighting and providing an insight into rural issues across both East and West Sussex. It operates as an advocate for rural communities and seeks to influence others in ensuring that the quality of life for all is improved.  

In particular, Action in rural Sussex focuses on highlighting issues on behalf of those who are at risk of exclusion or who find it difficult to make their own voice heard. This is possible as Action in rural Sussex operates as the Rural Voice for Sussex through its membership of many partnerships and representative bodies, using both evidence and knowledge to work on behalf of all Sussex’s rural residents.

Policy: Development & Analysis

Ensuring that the development and delivery of policy does not adversely affect those living in rural areas of Sussex is a key area of work undertaken by Action in rural Sussex. The organisation contributes to public consultations and works with stakeholders in order to ensure that rural areas and their communities are considered by decision-makers. Contributions are also made to the development of Sustainable Community Strategies, Local Area Agreements, Local Development Frameworks and other strategic and policy documents.  

In order to fulfil its role as an advocate for rural areas, Action in rural Sussex is a member of the Rural Community Action Network run by Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE). Strong links also exist with the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) and the South East Rural Community Councils (SERCC).

Research & Consultancy

The advocacy and policy work of Action in rural Sussex is supported by undertaking rural research, either as part of its core functions or under contract to interested bodies. This allows AirS to generate data on the current condition of rural Sussex, which may then be used to support decision-making and project delivery. For more details or examples of this work, please click here.

For more information please click here to contact us