The Rural Services Network is delighted to be taking bookings for our online National Rural Conference, Revitalising Rural

Revitalising Rural – Rural Housing Day

The Rural Services Network is delighted to be taking bookings for our online National Rural Conference, Revitalising Rural.

Taking place throughout the week from 14-18th September, with each day focusing on a different topic relevant to rural areas.  This week we are concentrating on the third conference day, Wednesday 16th September which is Rural Housing Day!  Kindly sponsored by English Rural, the day will feature sessions that all members of the Rural Services Network can access for free. Book your place here!

Throughout the course of the week, we are providing a range of sessions to make you feel like you are at our normal conference.

Rural Housing Day Plenary

The plenary session will feature one speaker

Ursula Bennion, Chair of the National Rural Housing Alliance. The National Rural Housing Alliance,

Ursula is the Chief Executive of Trent and Dove Housing Association.  Over a 25 year career in Housing, Ursula has worked across the sector in a wide variety of roles ranging from her first job as a trainee Housing Officer to Director of Business Development and now as Chief Executive. 

She is looking forward to sharing her expertise with delegates on the day. To see the full biography, click here

Rural Housing Day Seminar

The Seminar will feature Tom Chance, Joint CEO of the National Community Land Trust Network.

Tom Chance shares the position of Chief Executive of the National Community Land Trust Network with Catherine Harington. Prior to joining the Network, he worked for the Greater London Authority in housing and planning policy, and as head of office for the Green Party Group on the London Assembly. He has also worked for a sustainable construction company, and as a consultant for clients such as the All Party Parliamentary Group for Housing and Planning, World Habitat, Phases and various local authorities.

To find out more about Tom, see his biography here

Feature on Rural Housing

Also available on the day, will be a presentation by English Rural, our sponsor for the day featuring Martin Collett.

Martin Collett is the Chief Executive of English Rural, view his full biography here

Martin has over 15 years’ experience in the rural housing sector. He is a Corporate Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing, graduate of the University of London and former Chair of the Rural Housing Alliance. 

Established in 1991 and registered and regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing, English Rural is a specialist non-profit rural housing association with an active development programme – only building and managing homes in village locations, principally across the south of England. All the homes they build are community-led and designed to benefit local people. Their developments are high-quality and have a small footprint with an average scheme being only 6 homes. They are also one of the leading national advocates on affordable rural housing issues, with HRH The Princess Royal as their Patron.

Click here to find out more about English Rural

Places are only available to organisations that are members of the Rural Services Network and can be booked at this link

If you are not a member and would like to find out more, please contact nadine.trout@sparse.gov.uk