About Us
What is the
Warwickshire Rural Hub?
We are a business support organisation which is led by farm and rural businesses across Warwickshire and Solihull.
Established in October 2003 by a group of farmers who wanted to take control of their own destiny, the Rural Hub has grown from strength to strength and now has a membership of over 1300 businesses. Membership is free of charge. All our activities are funded by a charitable trust, business supporters and business partnerships.
The Rural Hub is recognised as an example of best practice for practical rural delivery – listening to the needs of rural businesses and responding to them.
You can contact our Co-ordinator, Jane Hampson, on info@ruralhub.org.uk or 07780 159291
Our postal address is Archway Cottage, 2 Church Street, Marton, Rugby CV23 9RL
What does
Warwickshire Rural Hub do?
The Warwickshire Rural Hub is a membership organisation which aims to create healthy businesses in a healthy landscape. We do this by issuing a monthly e-news, organising free topical events, running 3 sustainable farming groups, networking with 22 partner organisations and organising health and welfare events at Rugby Livestock Mart. Rural Hub events have been held on a variety of subjects such as;
- rural planning advice
- accessing biodiversity offsetting funding
- managing farm woodland
- new technology in farming
- funding available for farm diversification
- Class Q regulations for planning applications
FARMING IN WARWICKSHIRE
- There are around 2000 farm holdings in the county managing 160,000 hectares of land
- Approximately 6000 people work on farms, with 1500 of these being casual workers
- Farms in the county generate £138 million towards the West Midlands economy (not including the wider food and drink sectors)
- Major Warwickshire commodities include combinable crops, arable, livestock, horticulture and potatoes
- 510 farms are growing cereals on 80,000 hectares
- 65,000 cattle and 290,000 sheep are grazing 29,500 lowland hectares on just over 750 farms
Thank you to Warwickshire NFU for providing these statistics
Meet our Chair
Karen Ellis
Karen become our Chair in March 2022 and is well-known to many farmers in Warwickshire through her voluntary work with the Farming Community Network. She also used to farm with her late husband, Martin, just outside of Harbury. In addition, Karen is a Director of the Kenilworth and District Agricultural Society and is a member of many other farming and environmental groups in the county.
Meet the Co-ordinator
Jane Hampson
Jane has been the Co-ordinator of the Rural Hub since December 2016, working part-time from her home office. As well as pulling together our monthly e-news and organising our events, Jane also updates the website on a daily basis, keeps our social media pages active and manages the book-keeping.
Prior to joining the Rural Hub Jane worked for Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group as their Personnel Manager. Outside of work she enjoys long walks with her dog Beatrice, and gardening.
“The Rural Hub helps to inspire its members to do something different, to embrace change and learn from each other.”
Henry Lucas,
Warwickshire Rural Hub Chair 2003 – 2022
OUR SOCIAL VALUE RETURN
In 2020 the Rural Hub participated in a Defra sponsored project to measure the social value return of our work. But what is social value return? Put simply, it is the answer to the question “if £x is spent on delivering an activity, what is the value of that same £x in terms of wider benefits to the local community?” After participating in the project the Rural Hub was calculated as having a social value return of:
£9.84 for every £1 that is invested in us by our sponsor and business supporters
You can read the full report from the project here: Warwickshire Rural Hub Report
Or read the shorter impact report here: Warwickshire Rural Hub Impact Card
Would you Like to
Donate to the Rural Hub?
A donation to the Rural Hub of any amount is always gratefully received. However, only donations of over £100 can be acknowledged on our Hub Supporter's page. A donation can be paid by cheque, BACS, standing order or by the Paypal link below. If you would like our bank details please contact the Co-ordinator on info@ruralhub.org.uk
Contact Us
The Warwickshire Rural Hub CIC
Archway Cottage, 2 Church Street, Marton, Rugby CV23 9RL
Email: info@ruralhub.org.uk
Tel: 07780 159291
Company Registration No: 7026157
Registered office: 23 West Bar Street, Banbury, OX16 9SA
Warwickshire Rural Hub CIC Directors
Karen Ellis (Chair)
Amy Brant
Rosemary Collier
Emlyn Evans
Henry Lucas
Marion Perrett Pearson
Alexandra Robinson
Environmental Steering Group Members
Zoe Bell (Chair)
Tony Beysens
Meehal Grint, Kings Seeds
Tom Newbery, Highfield Farm
Louis Phipps, Bragborough Estate
Zoe Burrows, Rookery Farm
Disclaimer
The Warwickshire Rural Hub accepts no liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising from any action taken in reliance on the information contained on this website.
© 2018 Warwickshire Rural Hub. All rights reserved.