The Oxfordshire Rural Community Council was founded in 1922 and is the oldest RCC in the country.
ORCC is a charity that brings together people who care about rural life. In all they do, they focus on ‘helping people to help themselves’. Over our lifetime, Oxfordshire has changed, yet some problems – housing, transport, availability of services – have never gone away. There are new challenges too – the ageing population, rising fuel prices, climate change, and increasingly centralised services. And in future, the pool of volunteers – who have always done so much to contribute to village life – may shrink as people work for longer.
But Oxfordshire’s villages are alive and well, and with ORCC’s help, run nearly 300 village halls, around 70 community transport schemes, more community-run shops than any other county, while many are busy with parish plans and small affordable housing schemes for local people. Add to this an endless list of clubs and societies, fetes and events – the perfect recipe for strong, thriving and caring places to live.
In any community, change is inevitable. Community led plans (sometimes called Parish Plans) give local people a way of saying what kind of changes they want for their village and to decide on what is most important to them. ORCC’s Community Development Workers help local residents to consult their communities and draw up an action plan. They provide information, community visits and events to help local people develop the skills they need – with a strong emphasis both on including the whole community and on having fun!
The following links explains more about the Oxfordshire Rural Community Council, what they do and provides more detail on the process of creating a Community Led Plan.
Oxfordshire Rural Community Council Web Site
Community Led Planning Guide – Published by Oxfordshire Rural Community Council
About the Oxfordshire Rural Community Council
