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Our History
Community Resource is part of a national network of similar organisations with a long and proud history of supporting rural communities throughout England.
The first organisation of this kind was set up in Oxfordshire in 1920, in the days before the Welfare State operated. A booming economy led to a migration of agricultural workers and younger people to the cities in favour of better-paid factory work, and rural social life went into decline.
Oxfordshire Rural Community Council (RCC) provided support with projects around community cohesion, education, retraining and rehabilitation. On the strength of its success, a number of RCCs were established.
Community Resource held its inaugural meeting 4 November 1960 with the aim of bringing people in communities together and finding practical solutions to rural problems – functions we still carry out today.
Our Names
Over the last 60 years we have had several different names: the Community Council of Shropshire, CCS, Shropshire RCC, the RCC, SRCC. Shropshire Rural Communities Charity was our operating name from 2012 to 2021. All those names made quite a list, which became pretty confusing! Plus, none of them have ever really captured who we are and the breadth of our work.
We launched our new name – Community Resource – and corporate identity in November 2021. This change allowed us to move on from the past, giving us a fresh start as we grow and evolve as an organisation.
If want to make sure we’re here for 60 more years (and beyond) it’s important that as many people as possible know who we are, what we do and who we do it for.
