Rural interest groups in England are making efforts to prevent the withdrawal of government funding from the country's rural communities network.

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ACRE is the national body for the 38 rural community councils which the groups says lead or engage with over 50,000 grassroots organisations in rural England. Work undertaken by the Network's 900 staff members includes helping to form community transport schemes and oil-buying clubs, as well as assessing housing needs.

Groups representing the country's rural communities, including the Rural Services Network, have warned that the latest local government finance settlement will hit communities in the countryside hard. The provisional settlement was announced by local government minister Kris Hopkins this week.

Also this week, ACRE released a wish list of policies to benefit rural communities for the incoming government after May's general election. The demands, set out in ACRE's Rural Manifesto, are aimed at improving the "Health, wealth and access for the millions of people who live in the countryside."

ACRE's online petition requires 100,000 signatures in order to guarantee a debate in the House of Commons; however, the Network's representatives have said petitions which didn't meet this target have still affected government policy in the past.

Late last year, an assessment of the effects of government cuts on rural Councils by the National Audit Office revealed that there have been impacts on health and social care services and that the Department for Communities itself has "a limited understanding of authorities' financial sustainability and the impacts of funding cuts on [local] services."

At the time, Nick Chase, head of rural insight at ACRE, told Farming Online, "The general thrust from government is that volunteers will pick up the slack for service delivery in rural communities and whilst there has always been a willingness here, we are beginning to pick up on volunteer fatigue. This is anecdotal but, nevertheless, apparent."

On Wednesday, ACRE spokesperson Claire McGine told Farming Online, "Rural community councils have been making a difference at a grassroots level for decades – some date back 90 years – and have benefited from long-standing financial support from government.

"The community councils came together as a Network… 27 years ago and we are the only England-wide network with a dedicated focus on helping rural communities to help themselves.

"Our current agreement with Defra comes to an end in March and we have been advised to expect no further funding," said McGine.

Commenting on the effects a loss of funding would have, The ACRE spokesperson continued, "Withdrawal of Defra's investment would hit RCCs hard, with cutbacks in some services and the complete loss of others. A number of RCCs would be forced to close altogether, leaving rural communities without support and elderly and vulnerable people with nowhere to turn to.

"We have appealed to Defra Secretary of State Elizabeth Truss to continue funding the ACRE Network.

"A decision has yet to be made and we hope our online petition will demonstrate the strength of support that rural communities across England have for the vital work of their community councils. We are very grateful to everyone who has signed so far. You can find a link to the petition on our homepage at www.acre.org.uk."