Village SOS

Sarah Beeny follows a passionate group of locals as they spend a year trying to rescue their community. When the residents of Talgarth near Brecon applied for a grant from the BIG Lottery fund to renovate a derelict mill, they had no idea what was in store. The mill last ground corn in 1946, but can a bunch of volunteers really turn its fortunes around?

Sarah Beeny follows a passionate group of locals as they spend a year trying to rescue their community. When the residents of Honeystreet in Wiltshire applied for a grant from the Big Lottery Fund to renovate their local pub, they had no idea what was in store. With pubs in Britain closing every week, the volunteers must first transform the pub's reputation. But will they really succeed where countless others have failed?

When the residents of Caistor in Lincolnshire applied for a grant from the Big Lottery Fund to create a local arts and heritage centre, they had no idea what was in store. The locals may be proud of their history, but will it really pull in enough tourists to keep the business afloat?

When the residents of the Welsh village of Myddfai in Carmarthenshire applied for a grant from the Big Lottery Fund to build a new village hall and set up a business, they had no idea what was in store. The village has just 82 residents, but unless all of them support the project the chances of rejuvenation are low.

Sarah Beeny follows residents of the former mining village of Newstead in Nottinghamshire as they transform 220 acres of colliery spoil heaps into a multi-use country park, with a visitor centre and cafe, fishing lakes and a park, as well as playing host to a regular money-spinning music festival

Sarah Beeny visits Tideswell in the Peak District, where residents are battling to halt the village's decline by opening a cookery school and introducing a quality mark to reflect the excellence of local produce. Helping them is village champion Tim Nicol, who has experience of launching new food brands in the UK, but experiences trouble selling his idea for pink granite worktops to the cookery experts. However, the project runs into more serious problems when shopkeepers view the new concern as a threat rather than an asset.