Hidden Britain is an initiative with the twin aims of encouraging tourists to go off the beaten path and take time to explore the more secluded areas of our countryside, and ensuring rural communities get the best return from this tourism by giving the decision-making power to the community as a whole. Hidden Britain provides the guidance, advice, support and experience to help realise the vision of the people who know the area best, and because of this Hidden Britain can be as flexible as necessary, providing exactly what is needed in any area at any time.
Because the initiative is not-for-profit, all the benefits return to the community and can be used to help address the issues of most concern in the local area. Therefore this initiative seeks to help rural communities by getting the communities to help themselves to uncover their own Hidden Britain.
Following a successful inception in Cumbria (please see www.hidden-britain.co.uk), Hidden Britain has now been rolled out in the South East. The project has been live for three years and so far ten destinations have worked with us as part of the programme.
We are working with areas, which have remained largely outside of people’s perceptions of visitor destinations. However these areas often have a wealth of attractions, history, culture, landscape and wildlife that is definitely worth a second look, and in this sense are certainly Hidden gems.
The intention is to uncover and link together all the things that make these areas distinctive, and by doing so make them attractive, colourful, enticing destinations. Once this is in place to then share this with a wider audience and put the areas on the map in terms of visitors. Of course the focus here is on “community owned and led”, so it is the local people we are looking to for the inspiration, information and innovation needed. Hidden Britain is here to ensure that their vision becomes reality.
Here in the South East the project is funded by SEEDA and managed by SERCC, Tourism SE and Natural Discovery. To find out more about these organisations please visit the partners page.
James Turner is the Project Development Manager for the South East. Originally from Brighton he has grown up in and around the South East and even stayed to complete a degree in physical Geography at the University of Sussex. He has a background in tourism with over 10 years of experience in the travel industry, as well as much time spent on the road in various far flung corners of the world.
Claudia Townsend is the Development Officer who will be working part time to help develop new projects in the South East. Claudia has worked on community and sustainable tourism in a number of countries around the world and has an MSc in tourism and sustainability. She is looking forward to getting to know some of the South East's most interesting towns and villages and working with their communities to promote them.
To find about more about the Hidden Britain concept please see the Hidden Britain Starter Pack:
Download HB Starter Pack as PDF (1.59mb) >>
There is more information available at the Hidden Britain Resources page:
Alternatively please visit the national site:
Go to www.hidden-britain.co.uk >>
Hidden Britain South East
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