A NATIONAL church leader will be talking to Teesdale farmers and community group leaders this week to help highlight some of the challenges facing rural communities.
Revd Richard Teal, President of the Methodist Church, has made “rural mission” the focus of his year in office and this weekend (March 6 and 7) he will be talking to Richard Betton, from the NFU, Bob Danby, from Utass, and other agricultural representatives to learn from their experience.
“As the son of a tenant farmer in the Yorkshire Dales, I am passionate about rural issues and I want to ensure that rural voice is heard and listened to, not just in the church but in government and the wider community as well,” said the Revd Teal.
“The issues vary from community to community but essentially they are things like the lack of affordable housing, which drives young people away, loneliness and isolation, and the huge rise in mental health issues and rural poverty.” Recent research by Newcastle University has shown rural poverty to be as acute as urban poverty but much less visible.
“At any one time as many as 50 per cent of the rural population can be in poverty – just the same as in urban areas – but those figures tend not to be heard by national government,” said Revd Teal. “There is an invisibility about rural communities that is not fully recognised.
“Similarly, I don’t think people outside farming appreciate the level of commitment there is to tackling climate change and reducing carbon footprint. The NFU, for example, has committed to being carbon zero by 2040. That’s ten years ahead of the Government’s target.”
During his year of office the president has been working closely with the NFU and Young Farmers as well as contributing to campaigns focused on agricultural policy.
“The agricultural community is frequently maligned by those who don’t understand the challenges or the issues it faces and I want to use my position to help correct those misconceptions,” he added.
That challenge is also directed at the Methodist Church itself where, using his position, Revd Teal is pressing for better understanding
of rural church life and
closer links between village chapels and larger suburban churches.
“I want to use what I learn from meetings like this as a sort of irritant in the life of the church and to raise at national level the importance of the rural community,” he said.
“I want to tell the positive story of rural Methodism.”
Bob Danby, from Utass, said: “It’s really heartening when a national leader shows this level of interest in our concerns.”
And that idea was echoed by Richard Betton, NFU Council member for Durham and North Yorkshire. “The issues facing farming and rural communities today are urgent and demand action.
“But too often the rural voice is drowned out by the urban,” he said.
It had been hoped the Revd Teal’s visit to the Darlington District of the Methodist Church would have been in person but with national lockdown restrictions still in place, the visit will now go ahead using social media.
The meetings with the NFU, Utass and other farming representatives will be private but there are a number of opportunities for church members and the public to interact with the President using the Zoom platform.
There are question-and-answer sessions, a virtual pilgrimage through the dales, and on Sunday, March 7, the President will be taking part in a service, hosted by the West Durham Circuit and broadcast live on Stanhope Methodists YouTube channel.
For information on how to join in contact Helle Sewell on 07905 606042, or email darlingtondistrict.enabler@gmail.com
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
