The Rural Services Network held its Annual General Meeting at the start of December.

This meeting gives member organisations the opportunity to come together to hear about the work of the organisation and our achievements throughout the year. 

It is also the time when we elect our Executive Board who are responsible for the strategic overview of the organisation. We are delighted to announce that Cllr Roger Phillips was re-elected as Chair of the Rural Services Network. You can see more about the rest of the Executive at this link.

Nik Harwood was re-elected as Chair of the Rural Services Partnership, the side of our organisation that represents the wide range of non-local authority organisations delivering services to rural areas. 

The AGM dealt with various business decisions including:

• Receiving a report on the RSN achievements throughout 2024 and a presentation from Chief Executive Kerry Booth which can be viewed at this link.
• Considering the budget for the coming year and membership levels for 2025-2026.
• The Constitution was also updated and the new version is available at this link.

We thank our members that attended the AGM and recognise the importance of coming together as an organisation.

We are already seeing that the coming year will be key for rural organisations to ensure that the rural voice is strong.  We need to work to make decision makers understand the challenges that those delivering services in rural communities face, and the policy solutions needed to ensure that the countryside is thriving and rural residents have access to the services that they need.