The Arthur Rank Centre exists to help create thriving rural communities, by encouraging and equipping rural churches to bring physical and spiritual transformation.
With 15,000 rural churches in England alone, the Church represents a significant resource present in most villages. We offer a variety of mainly free materials and training for church and community groups via our website.
These include:
- Germinate Enterprise: a unique rural business start-up and follow up mentoring programme that can be delivered by local groups www.germinate.net/go/enterprise
- Rural Isolation and Loneliness: a report and practical resource for rural churches www.germinate.net/go/isolation
- Equipping for Rural Mission: a toolkit to help churches research and develop programmes to meet needs and opportunities in their community www.germinate.net/go/profiling
- A wide variety of other resources for rural communities at www.germinate.net/go/communities
- There is a library of rural good practice at www.germinate.net/go/casestudies
Other resources include learning communities, leadership development, and a comprehensive resource on church buildings. Finally, we are currently creating resources to develop rural access to affordable credit, working with Plunkett Foundation, The Association of British Credit Unions, and the Church of England.