The social value of your rural business: CLA survey
CLA members play a crucial role, not only for our economy and natural surroundings, but for their local communities too. For the government to truly gauge this value, we’re calling on your responses to the latest survey
From providing affordable rental homes to supporting social prescribing and care farming, CLA members contribute a lot of value to the communities around them. The CLA is working with the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) on a research project which will find the monetary value of activities which benefit the community, and calculate cost savings to the state.
In the run up to the next general election, it is more important than ever that the CLA has strong evidence to demonstrate how land managers help the people that live and work around them. The value this provides is rarely accounted for, or even properly acknowledged. The CCRI have found that CLA members are generating tangible social impacts, but we need more data than is currently available to demonstrate that value and support our lobbying.
The next stage of the project is an online survey for all members to complete. We need at least 450 responses to produce robust statistics. The survey will ask you about the different activities you carry out and the benefits they provide. You can estimate any answers you are unsure of, and you do not need to complete the survey in one go.
As a thank you for taking part, you'll also be entered into a prize draw where one in every 100 respondents will receive £100 worth of gift vouchers.
The research project will also involve member case studies, which the CCRI team will use to calculate a Social Return on Investment to capture, measure and monetise the wider value that is often overlooked through other cost-benefit models. The Social Return on Investment will demonstrate how integral the social value generated by landowners and managers is to the fabric of rural communities.
If you have any questions about completing the survey or the project in general, please contact Bethany Turner on 020 7460 7978 or bethany.turner@cla.org.uk.