The work begins

Hi, I am Rima Berry. I am an aspiring Manager working in rural economic and community regeneration. This blog is to document my travels and research as a 2019/20 Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow.

I have been working in community/economic regeneration for over 30 years, both as a freelance consultant and as an employee. I’m currently employed by YDMT (Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust) as the Programme Co-ordinator for the Yorkshire Dales LEADER Programme. We have given out nearly £8 million in rural grants since 2007 over the rural Yorkshire Dales.

On my travels through the USA I will be researching how organisations can get better at supporting rural community land ownership in the UK for the social, economic and environmental good of all members of rural society. Equitable community development is my watch word.

I will be visiting the pioneer organisations who started the Community Land Trust movement, tested it and are living it.

This research is important for us in the UK, because protected landscapes and national parks not only conserve habitats , they conserve cultural values too; the communities and people who maintain the farmed landscape. If we let our communities “drift” apart, we lose the very experiences which are the foundation of why the landscapes were designated.

My research will centre on innovation in public sector partnerships, awareness of the social benefits of community land trusts, and particularly how they boost individual and community equity.

I will look at how the Community Land Trusts in the States create foundations for more equitable development and better opportunities for low income home ownership.

Equitable community development in rural areas… I’m on a mission indeed.

Views in this blog are my own and in no way represent the opinions of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, the UK Government or my employer (YDMT).