In this spotlight item we want to feature two topical items that ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) is working on at the moment: supporting vibrant village halls and the Rural Flood Resilience Partnership.

Firstly a reminder that Village Halls Week 2025 is fast approaching. Our seventh annual campaign will run from Monday 17 to Sunday 23 March and provides a great opportunity to celebrate, encourage and support the people who volunteer their time and make these community buildings such special places. During the week we will start the week with a blog from Louise Beaton OBE, which will celebrate the role of volunteers through the last 100 years. Louise has written a book ‘Halls for All’  which will launch during Village Halls Week.

ACRE, together with Village Halls Week sponsors, Utility Aid and Hallmaster, will be sharing news, stories, and viewpoints on social media about the brilliant work of volunteers and encouraging others. Be sure to follow our accounts on X (formerly Twitter) https://x.com/ACRE_national and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ACREnational/ You can also search for the hashtag #VillageHallsWeek on these platforms, so please like and repost any items that take your interest.

The Rural Flood Resilience Partnership launched last year to help farmers and rural communities adapt to a changing climate. The Partnership unites six organisations: ACRE; Association of Drainage Authorities; Country Land and Business Association (CLA); Environment Agency; National Farmers Union (NFU) and Natural England. Its 2024-2026 work plan will support rural communities to build resilience against the threat of flooding and is a response to this growing challenge. The initiative has been established to encourage greater collaboration to evidence the specific vulnerabilities of rural areas, engage communities and farm businesses so they are involved when planning, developing and delivering local responses to flooding, and improve access to quality support.

Of interest to rural communities will be the recent Environment Agency updates to flood and coastal erosion risk data. The latest updates mean that the flood risk for some homes and businesses may have changed. Last updated in 2018, the new NaFRA (National Flood Risk Assessment) provides a single and updated picture of the current and future flood risk from rivers, the sea and surface water for England.  You can see what the long-term flood risk is in specific areas and sign up for flood warnings where available.

For the first time the data will provide information on future flood risk, taking into account climate change and the potential flood depths, both for present day flood risk and in relation to climate change.

Also recently released is information about coastal erosion flood risk. The new NCERM (National Coastal Erosion Risk Map) provides the most up-to-date national picture of the current and future coastal erosion risk for England. The updated NCERM information can be accessed by checking coastal erosion risk for an area of England and through the shoreline management plan explorer.