Annex B
VILLAGE AGENTS—BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
People living in rural areas, and Gloucestershire
is no exception, are a classic example of a hard to reach group.
Whilst frequently masked by a veneer of affluence, these communities
are often isolated with high levels of social deprivation and
poor transport links. They are usually very "self contained"
and because of this, are reluctant to find help outside of their
local community.
In a previous era, all villages had what are
commonly referred to as the "5 P's":
— The Patron—Lord of the Manor
— The Postmaster/Mistress
— The Policeman—and invariably
therefore the Policeman's wife
— The Pedagogue—Village School
Master/Mistress.
Today, many villages have few, if any, of these
resident and, as such, that informal advice, information and support
network has disappeared. The majority of parish councils employ
part time clerks—their major skill resource—many of
whom are only employed to give very limited time to this role.
Many individual councillors have skills but little time, and some
have time but perhaps do not always have the skills and experience.
This lack of resource has been confirmed in the Rural Economic
Strategy for Gloucestershire (published by Gloucestershire First
in 2004).
The Village Agent concept was first identified
as a recommendation from the Rurality research funded by the Department
for Work and Pensions in 2002-03. This research gathered the views
of older people living in some of the most rural areas of Gloucestershire
and identified that an average of 83% of respondents would be
happy approaching someone they knew and trusted within the community
for help and advice.
The Village Agent will bridge the gap between
the local community and those statutory and voluntary organisations
able to offer help or support where required. Village Agents will
act as a facilitator in the provision of high quality information,
promote access to a wide range of services, carry out a series
of practical checks and identify unmet need within their community.
Through training and access to appropriate information resources,
the Village Agents will develop their capacity to provide a service
within their communities both in the short and longer-term. The
role will incorporate information relating to social care, health
services, pensions and benefits, housing, home and personal safety,
adult education, leisure services, volunteering and advocacy services.
In order to be truly effective in taking a holistic
approach to anyone in need within their community, the Village
Agent will need appropriate access to relevant resources and support.
In order to meet this need, they will form part of a network of
local contact points within Gloucestershire, providing an essential
role in taking information and support to some of the most rural
areas in the county. They will be supported in their role through
a range of "tools" such as the provision of a detailed
training programme, publicity materials and high quality information
resources, making appropriate use of advanced technology where
practicable. The Village Agents will receive support both on a
one-to-one basis and through the sharing of good practice within
the network.
Village Agents are being recruited locally,
trained and supported to provide face to face information and
support which enables individuals to make informed choices about
their future needs. The service will be provided primarily to
older people, but other disadvantaged and isolated people will
also be able to receive Village Agent support.
The 30 Village Agents are being recruited to
carry out this role until June 2008 in order to identify the impact
they can have both on individuals and on communities, and to test
the hypothesis that rural communities prefer to access someone
they know within their community for help and advice. They will
be paid a small "retainer" to work ten hours per week
in the community, providing access to information via laptops.
This will be achieved through weekly surgeries in the Village
Hall or other suitable places, and home visits where appropriate.
It is intended to recruit and train all 30 by March 2007, using
a phased approach. External evaluation will test the hypothesis,
the benefits of the Village Agent approach for individuals and
communities and the robustness of the methodology as a sustainable
system.
Appropriate localities for Village Agents have
been identified by a gap analysis and mapping exercise using Indices
of Multiple Deprivation. The first 18 agents will be allocated
to Cotswold and Stroud areas with the remaining 12 agents equally
split between Tewkesbury and the Forest.
Older people themselves will be a crucial resource
throughout the life of this project. The initial concept of the
Village Agent has been identified from research carried out into
the needs of older people and many of these same people will remain
engaged in the project at all levels. A series of focus groups
will be established at specific times to discuss and evaluate
the effectiveness of the role and suggest changes or enhancements
as appropriate.
The Village Agent pilot will be led by Gloucestershire
County Council, working in partnership with the Gloucestershire
Rural Community Council (GRCC) a countywide Charitable Company
founded in 1923 and is funded by LinkAge Plus of the Department
for Work and Pensions.
Rosie Callinan
Project Manager LinkAge Plus, Village Agents
August 2007
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