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Funded by the Big Lottery, The Rural Media Company worked closely with the University of Bristol School for Policy Studies to research what it's like to live on a low income in a rural area.
Click here to read Birmingham Post feature article
The Project was launched in Birmingham and Hereford in March, with speakers, Stuart Burgess and Alison McLean from the Commission for Rural Communities, and the DVD Report is now available from The Rural Media Company.
The research has made innovative use of video to enable research participants to record their own lives and experiences. These hard-hitting testimonies reveal that the commonly held perception of the rural idyll, i.e. a haven for second homeowners and wealthy commuters, can be challenged.
The DVD Report contains short and long selections of video testimony in each of five topic themes (Necessities of Life, Isolation and Powerlessness, Accessing Services and Opportunities, Denial of Rights, Aspirations and Opinions) and PDF versions of the Summary Report and Final Research Report, along with a presentation booklet outlining the project. For more information or to purchase copies price £10, please contact nataliep@ruralmedia.co.uk
Background
Living on a low income is a problem as well as a difficult and sensitive subject, especially in isolated rural areas, where everyone knows everyone.
Since January 2007, 80 local agencies have been approached and 50 people have spoken to our fieldworkers, responding to such questions as “Do you ever go without things that most people take for granted? If you could speak directly to people in power, what things would you tell them would make your life better?”
Our partners, Bristol University School of Policy Studies analysed the video testimony, some of which speaks powerfully of problems experienced behind closed doors and hitherto hidden from the eyes of policymakers. The DVD Report is designed to bring the views of the experts - people living on low incomes in rural areas - directly to agencies and policymakers
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