GMTF history
In 1995, representatives from a small group of Gloucestershire towns came together to share frustrations and identify areas where they could work together. With support from the Gloucestershire Rural Community Council, the group went on to commission a comprehensive survey of all the County's small and market towns, focusing essentially on factors affecting viability and future development.
This research exercise, known as the Gloucestershire Small Towns Survey, prompted Gloucestershire County Council to examine social deprivation levels across the County as a whole.
This action, in turn, led to the submission of a successful bid for government funding (Single Regeneration Budget 4) seeking to tackle many of the problems raised, associated with access, employment, youth issues, poverty and training.
The five year (1998-2003) SRB initiative, called the Gloucestershire Market Towns 'Better Communities' scheme, involved a broad range of strategic partners and comprised a planned programme of both county-wide and locally targeted action focusing on pockets of deprivation within the County's small and market towns.
Through the support of the SRB scheme and the services of a dedicated officer, the Forum grew from a group of interested individuals to its current status as a broader-based, independent limited company with charitable objectives, serving as an umbrella organisation representing the area's rural towns and large parishes.
A principal objective of the Forum concerns the identification of locally-based and innovative solutions to rural needs, actively, through demonstration.
The Forum's quarterly network meetings are hosted by
different communities each time, across the county,
focusing on activities and issues in that locality.
This is an effective way of encouraging the exchange
of information and ideas, stimulating greater
community participation, and the empowerment of local
government. It is the very foundation on which the
Forum is built.