Kent

Our History

Our history of rural development in Kent begins on the 6th of February 1923 when the County Council called the inaugural meeting of the Kent Rural Community Council (KRCC).

Although things didn’t really get underway until late 1924, KRCC’s second General Secretary (Leonard Shoeten Sack) drove a decade long programme of works that defined the RCC for years to come, including:

• Rural Industries Committee and also Co-operative Society
• Tuberculosis Care Committee
• Committee for the Preservation of Rural Kent
• Hop Pickers Medical Treatment Board
• Kent Local History Committee

Commander GJT Bahin succeeded Sack and continued in a similar vein adding concerns such as the Adivsory Service for Parish Councils (latterly the independant Kent Association of Parish Councils) and Many Citizens Advice Bureaux.

The 1960s saw Lieutenant Colonel John Davies instigate The Welfare of Migrants Committee, which is still based in Kent and is now working with asylum seekers and other migrants nationally.

From the 1970s onward the way of working transformed significantly

“Most obviously this would be seen in the way of working which is now centred predominantly on young staff working directly with rural people rather than by servicing well-meaning committees of the great and the good.”

Alan Rogers, A Short History of ‘Rural Kent’ 1923-2013.

Also the emphasis on Rural Industries became the concern of others (CoSIRA); as did much in the field of Welfare.

KRCC has seen 5 changes in its name and has been led by 12 General Secretaries (or Chief Officers) in its near-100 year history; but despite all of its changes in names, leadership, emphasis and ways of working most of the principle concerns laid down by Leonard Shoeten Sack remain pressing and relevant today.

The Work of Rural Kent Action With Communities

{the last 10 years review + case studies needed}

Kent Resources