The rural regeneration charity, ruralnet|uk looks forward to playing its part in the implementation of the new agenda for the delivery of rural services presented to Parliament today by Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
'We are keen to broaden the high-value support we provide to rural communities by working within the new delivery framework,' said Simon Berry, ruralnet|uk's chief executive.
'In line with the Rural Strategy, we look forward to working closely with the regions, as we already do with Farming and Food West Midlands and the West Midlands Rural Affairs Forum. We particularly welcome proposals to involve the voluntary and community sector more, in both consultation and in delivery of services.
'In addition, we believe that our forthcoming conference, ruralnet|2004, will offer the opportunity for participants to explore further many of the issues discussed in the strategy.'
ruralnet|uk supports the largest online rural development community in the UK. Members of this learning network benefit from services such as Experts Online, timely summaries of regeneration and funding news, telephone support and group working facilities that enable efficient and transparent partnership working.
These resources are now shared between more than 20 regeneration networks that span both rural and urban areas.
Notes to editors
1) Details of Defra's Rural Strategy 2004 are available at www.defra.gov.uk/rural/strategy/default.htm
2) ruralnet|uk is a rural regeneration charity (see www.ruralnetuk.org). It established one of the first community computing centres in the country in the early 1990's and one of the earliest online communities, ruralnet|online, five years ago (see www.ruralnet.org.uk).
3) ruralnet|uk has designed and maintains the web-sites for Farming and Food West Midlands (see www.farmingandfood-westmidlands.org.uk), the West Midlands Rural Affairs Forum and the West Midlands Rural Network (see their linked site at www.ruralnetworkwm.org.uk).
4) For further details of ruralnet|2004 go to www.ruralnetuk.org/conference or call the booking helpline on 0845 1300 411.
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