SWAN acts as the umbrella body for the work of rural community council’s in the South West and they have been working together since 1986. In 1998 SWAN was registered as an independent charity and became an Incorporated Charity in 2007. SWAN’s board includes Chief Executives and Chairs of all seven RCCs in the South West.

SWAN aims to:

• Influence regional policies, strategies and outcomes for rural communities in the South West
• Promote and represent the rural voluntary and community sector and rural communities in the South West
• Facilitate performance improvement across the network to optimise the impact of RCC work in a huge regional rural constituency
• Enable collaboration between RCCs across a range of functions and services
• Increase evidence of rural needs.

For more detailed information on the work of SWAN, visit www.swan-network.org.uk