Charles Abel • Rural leadership
Engaging rural youth Keeping young people engaged in the countryside is a priority. A new initiative aims to champion fresh approaches to re-energise rural communities YOUNG people leaving the countryside puts untold pressure on rural communities. So what can be done? A major new project is seeking answers and acting as a pathfinder for fresh approaches. The initiative is the brain-child of Jane Craigie, a Farmers Club member and beneficiary of the Farmers Club Charitable Trust’s Windsor Leadership Trust programme, which helps aspiring leaders develop their vision and skills to enact positive change within their communities and industries. Unlike agricultural leadership programmes the WLT involves individuals from a broad range of sectors, including the military, church, retail and health care. So far the FCCT has supported over 20 people from the UK’s agricultural sector to undergo the programme. Inspired by her Windsor experience Jane teamed up with 30-year old colleague Rebecca 14 • The Farmers Club Spring 2020
Dawes to start the Rural Youth Project early in 2018. She describes it as a ‘side project’ from her main agrifood marketing business, its aim being to understand what challenges young people feel they have in rural areas and what can be done to encourage 18-28 year-olds to build their lives in the countryside. Widespread issue “There is a universal problem that almost all rural areas face, the loss of the young people to other places, most often to towns and cities,” she explains. “With the exodus comes the death of crucial local services like schools, public transport and GP surgeries; and once the young people and services go, it’s rare they return. “I travel overseas a lot and perpetually see the consequences of losing young rural people – there is less creative thinking, less energy in local communities and a smaller pool of potential
Rural Youth Project team (l-r) Susannah Pate, Rebecca Dawes (co-founder), Rebecca Rainnie and Jane Craigie (co-founder).
“There is a universal problem that almost all rural areas face: the loss of young people to other places, most often towns and cities.”
