CYP Now - Policy & Practice: Policy into practice - Rural communities need distinctive services

Accessible services are crucial to the 10 per cent of the population who live within rural communities, yet those services have been increasingly difficult to maintain. Major factors blighting service provision in rural areas are well versed - a smaller and disparate population, poor transport infrastructure, low wages, and a shortage of available premises have all proved difficult to resolve and have contributed to diminishing economies.

Models for services are often built around urban needs, and solutions are commonly devised to reconcile the problems of life in the city. This, coupled with the fact that specially targeted disadvantaged communities are often not defined by the sporadic pockets of poverty found in the country, means that rural communities have often been left out of benefiting from national service improvements and delivery.

What is clear is that rural issues are so complex that they cannot be tackled in isolation or simply as adapted versions of urban regeneration. However, with interlinking problems that segue into one another, children's services can often be the place to break the vicious cycle - with the starting point of cost versus demand. Schemes with multi-functions have proven to help reduce costs and increase demand in rural areas, enabling sustainability and ensuring families have sustainable, accessible services.

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