The National Rural Conference 2025

The RSN is delighted to invite you to attend the National Rural Conference 2025!

Aimed at Senior Officers, Members and policy makers along with those working to deliver services in rural areas this conference is an exciting opportunity to hear from expert speakers, network with like minded colleagues and share learning and rural experiences.

The National Rural Conference 2025 is kindly:

Supported by:
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by: Sponsored by:
National Rural Conference 2025 Launch Video:

Conference Schedule:

Monday 15th September
10:00 - 11:00
Rural Fair Funding
  • Speakers to be announced shortly
13:30 - 15:30
Rural Economy & Regeneration
  • Minister Daniel Zeichner MP, Minister of State (Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs), DEFRA

  • Laura Dyer, Deputy Chief Executive Places, Engagement & Libraries, Arts Council

  • Further speaker to be announced shortly
Tuesday 16th September
10:00 - 12:00
Rural Affordable Housing & Planning
13:30 - 15:30
Rural Connectivity
  • Cllr Nick Oliver, Cabinet Lead for Finance and Value for Money and Chris Thompson, Director of Digital and IT, Northumberland Council

  • Chris Hockley, Head of Engagement, Digital Voice Programme, BT
    "An update on the UKs Digital Phone Switchover"

  • Bryn Jones, Director, Shared Rural Network
    "The Shared Rural Network - enabling mobile connectivity through collaboration"

  • Lianne Williams, Strategy, Policy and Engagement Advisor, Government Digital Service
    "GOV.UK One Login: Making it easier to access government services online"

  • Claire Evans, Director of Transformation, Tewkesbury Borough Council

Wednesday 17th September
10:00 - 12:00
Rural Net Zero
  • Andrew Oswald, Energy and Sustainability Manager, West Suffolk Council

  • Further speakers to be announced shortly
13:30 - 15:30
Data that makes a Difference
  • Speakers to be announced shortly
Thursday 18th September
10:00 - 12:00
Rural Health & Care
  • Judith Vickress, Domestic Abuse Consultant and Churchill Fellow, The Churchill Fellowship
    "Breaking the Silence: Coordinating Rural Communities to End Domestic Abuse"

  • Dr Tim Sanders, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Rural Medicine, The University of Lancashire (UCLan)

  • Lisa Farley, Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Young Somerset

  • Further speaker to be announced shortly
13.30 - 15.30
Rural Transport
  • David Peinturier, Consultant, Freight Innovation Fund, Catapult

  • Further speakers to be announced shortly

Feedback from last year's conference:

Thank you very much for an extremely interesting week packed full of data and thought-provoking information. The resource is invaluable.

I attended the Rural Transport session. I thought it was very well planned and insightful. As a Councillor for a rural area on the edge of a town, a lack of public transport leaves our residents stranded, and is a detriment to the town as a whole, slowing economic activity by not bringing customers, workers and students from the outer villages. 

Thank you for a very well organised Conference.

I was really glad to have caught the DfT session from Fergus O’Dowd, on their connectivity tool, at this morning’s seminar. We will be keen to follow up on that, as it aligns with our aspirations around active travel.

It was also really good to see a transport session in the session on housing, as sometimes we can end up being a bit monocultural in how we try to divide up all things rural when really rural is all things.

Great event, my colleague and I are already planning an event to invite our two MPs. I took on board the comment – you must engage. Both our MPs are new – and we are planning a Rural Community Engagement event to involve residents and officers and hopefully our two MPs. They need facts and figures rather than emotions.

It’s good to know we have strength in our numbers. Well done RSN for bringing this together. Much appreciated.

Thanks to all for enlightening me in the issues faced by rural communities.

Thank you all - highly informative session - great expertise from speakers.

Another great event.  Many thanks to all the speakers for sharing their knowledge and experiences.

Thank you for a really interesting and thought-provoking session.

Thank you for a great conference. Great material.

Thank you for a really good week of presentations and discussion.

Another great session, and a brilliant conference. Thank you very much.

Very many thanks to all for a very interesting week.