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Membership
For more than a century, Cambridgeshire ACRE has helped rural communities across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Join us to be part of supporting community action.
Your membership matters because it gives you direct access to trusted advice, practical support and a team that understands rural challenges. It helps you save time, solve problems quickly and feel confident in your decisions. Most importantly, it strengthens your community by ensuring you have the tools and knowledge you need to thrive.
What membership gives you
- Telephone and email advice from our experienced team
- Online members’ network with shared learning and practical resources
- Monthly Staying in Touch newsletter with rural updates, funding alerts and training opportunities
- Priority invitations to training, workshops and networking events
- Regular funding updates tailored to community needs
- Discounts on consultancy and bespoke training services
- Opportunities to promote your work through member spotlights and case studies
- Voting rights at our Annual General Meeting
- A voice in shaping rural policy and advocacy through Cambridgeshire ACRE’s partnerships and representation work
Membership means being part of a movement that’s making a tangible difference, creating stronger, greener and better-connected rural places.
Additional benefits if you run a community building or village hall
Many constituted organisations run community buildings, and these are the benefits we provide.
- Specialist helpline for trustees and managers of community facilities
- Training and governance support through the Futureproofing Cambridgeshire’s Community Buildings programme
- Access to ACRE’s national information sheets and templates
- Comprehensive resource bank with policies, compliance checklists and governance guides
- Inclusion in the Halls for Hire online directory to promote
your venue - Hallmark quality accreditation support and a simplified toolkit
- Energy audits and sustainability advice, including guidance on decarbonisation and retrofit funding
- Peer mentoring and networking for trustees and committees
- Guidance on fundraising and income diversification
Additional benefits for town and parish councils
Many parish and town councils own or manage community buildings. Where that’s the case, membership gives access to all the additional benefits available to both councils and community facilities. These are the benefits for a parish or town council.
- One-to-one advice and consultancy on parish plans, community projects and funding applications
- Support to manage and protect your community’s assets, including playing fields, open spaces and community buildings (with specialist advice for those acting as custodian trustee)
- Templates and toolkits covering procurement, asset management and resilience planning (coming Spring 2026)
- Training and peer learning for clerks and councillors, both online and in person
- Support on housing, planning and community-led development
The difference we make
Strengthen
Founded in 1924 to strengthen rural life after the First World War.
Create
Supported the creation and the sustainability of hundreds of village halls and community spaces.
Facilitate
Facilitated thousands of affordable rural homes, giving local people the chance to stay in the places they love.
Innovate
Driven innovation in community energy, wellbeing and inclusion.
Unite
United volunteers, councils and partners to deliver practical change across Cambridgeshire.
Our impact in 2024-25
148
Community buildings supported through expert advice, governance and training.
37,700
Visits made to community hubs and living rooms.
16
Parish councils supported to progress rural housing and neighbourhood planning projects.
£936k
External funding secured for rural communities.
29
New affordable homes delivered on rural exception sites.
33
Volunteer lock wardens protecting local rivers and habitats.
£25k
Of fuel debt cleared for vulnerable residents.
Why your membership matters
Your membership not only gives you practical support but also sustains our wider work helping hundreds of rural communities every year. Together we’re shaping a fairer, more sustainable and better-connected Cambridgeshire.
Our memberships
