Where rural England lives, and where the ACRE Network is
The Office for National Statistics classes every neighbourhood in England as urban or rural. ACRE publishes a map of its network — the county charities that support village halls, parish plans, rural housing and community groups. This puts the two side by side.
This is a map, not an adviser, and nobody here can advise you. Your county’s ACRE Network member can — find it under Find a member.
9,499,757people in rural neighbourhoods in England
Every neighbourhood the Office for National Statistics classes as rural, at its mid-2022 population.
96.8%of them live in an area where an ACRE Network member shows
Counted over each area’s own neighbourhoods.
23 of 24English counties with an ACRE Network member
The exception is the one ACRE names itself - see below.
187,830people in rural neighbourhoods in Warwickshire
Where ACRE says there is no member at present.
Rural England
ACRE says: “Rural communities often lack basic services, homes that people can afford and employment opportunities - problems made worse by poor connectivity to other areas”. What can be counted from public information is where rural England lives and where the network that supports it is. Whether services are within reach is not counted here: that needs travel times, which this does not hold.
One county stands out. ACRE’s own page says: “As of December 2025, there is no dedicated ACRE Network member for Warwickshire.” Warwickshire has 187,830 people in rural neighbourhoods. Of the 306,102 rural people living where neither record shows a member, that is the largest single part.
Where the ACRE Network is
England’s counties and unitary authorities, split into five equal groups by the published measure of deprivation — the share of each area’s neighbourhoods in the most deprived tenth nationally.
| Deprivation | Areas | An ACRE Network member shows |
|---|---|---|
| Least deprived fifth | 30 | 16 of 30 |
| Second | 30 | 17 of 30 |
| Middle | 31 | 21 of 31 |
| Fourth | 30 | 16 of 30 |
| Most deprived fifth | 31 | 13 of 31 |
There is no steady pattern with deprivation. Comparing the two ends: one is present in 13 of the 31 most deprived areas and 16 of the 30 least deprived. That is a finding about where ACRE Network members are, not about how much help anybody gets.
By kind of council
Every county and unitary authority, by the kind of council it is. London boroughs and metropolitan boroughs are the big cities and their conurbations; counties are mostly rural and small-town England; the unitary councils are a mix, many of them cities.
| Kind of council | Areas | An ACRE Network member shows | Share of people in rural neighbourhoods living where one shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| London boroughs | 33 | 0 of 33 | none counted |
| Metropolitan boroughs | 36 | 9 of 36 | 79.8% |
| Unitary councils in England | 59 | 51 of 59 | 98.9% |
| Counties | 24 | 23 of 24 | 97.0% |
See the areas where no member shows, and what that does not mean →
The members themselves
ACRE’s map lists 37 members, one to a county page, some serving more than one county. 35 charities on the register stand behind them. The typical one — the median — reported income of £830,087 in its latest accounts.
What this is for
Two readers, and they want different things.
- Somebody running a village hall or a rural group. The map is here to find the county member whose job it is to help.
- Somebody arguing about rural England. This counts where rural people live against where the network that supports them is, council area by council area, rather than asserting either.
This was built without asking you, from information you and others already publish, to show what is possible rather than to speak for you. If you would rather it came down, say so and it comes down, and you do not have to give a reason. If you would rather it were built properly — with your own figures for the villages and groups each one works with — that is the more interesting conversation.