Showing the way – this year’s Royal Norfolk Show President, the Rt Rev Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich, puts thriving rural communities at the heart of his presidency.
When I was asked to be President of this year’s Royal Norfolk Show, I knew it was an extraordinary honour.
I have seen how the two days of the Show are a highlight of the Norfolk year and a celebration of much that is best about the county and its people.
The Royal Norfolk Show is a chance to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell—from the heady fragrance of the flower tent to the rich aromas of the cattle barns.
It is rural Norfolk dressed top-to-toe in its Sunday best.
The Showground is a countryside catwalk for a huge variety of hats, ranging from the bowler hats of the hard-working stewards to riding hats, sunhats, straw boaters, flat caps, and fascinators.
But at the heart of the Show, behind the enormous farm machinery and the exhilarating military displays, are the extraordinarily talented people who make this super-sized village fete happen and highlight our thriving rural communities.
‘Thriving rural communities’ is my theme for my presidency.
The Show itself is a masterclass in thriving rural communities, its food hall and stalls piled high with locally produced breads, meats, cheeses, fruit and veg, sweet treats, and drinks.
There are rural crafts and skills to marvel at, and even the animals, maybe especially the animals, are washed, brushed, groomed, and braided as they compete to be best sheep, cow, pig, hen, or donkey in class.
But so many aspects of rural life have been deeply challenged across Norfolk in recent decades.
The demand for second homes means that many villages are no longer affordable for young families.
We have seen hundreds of pubs and shops close, and the reducing birth rate is having a dramatic impact on village schools.
I grieve the closure of some of our church schools.
We need to address these issues together.
I hope in a tiny way I’ve been able to contribute something in the House of Lords, including pushing back on inheritance tax on small farms, seeking assurances about banking provision for rural communities, and working to protect our precious chalk steams.
I can also support the inspirational contribution of Church of England clergy and churchgoers, working to build loving, supportive, hopeful communities across the Diocese of Norwich.
One of the wonders of the Church of England is its parish system, meaning every field and farm, street and home, and every person living there, belongs to a parish.
It’s a potent tool at the heart of our rural communities, and many of our farmers and agricultural workers, our food producers, and the people organising everything from toddler groups to pensioners’ lunches, are connected to their village church too.
They collect food for the hungry, run groups for young families and the elderly and vulnerable, open churches as cool spaces in summer and heated places in winter, set up social groups, care for the wildlife in their churchyards, and live out Jesus’ command to “love your neighbour as yourself.”
As I make my way around Norfolk and Waveney, I love to see villages where rural life continues to thrive, or is thriving once again thanks to community shops, schools offering brilliant support, busy village halls, small-scale social housing developments, the restoration of rare habitats, public transport networks—and committed church congregations.
Where rural communities support people across the range of ages and backgrounds, have good transport links and internet connection, and access to shops, surgeries, and leisure facilities, they are more likely to be places where residents, schools, clubs, and businesses can thrive.
Villages with a church community, a village hall, or pub, are communities with space for people to meet, chat, share, and support each other.
Our churches, their towers marking the landscape, are not just treasure troves of memory and heritage marvels, but hubs of practical and emotional support reaching out into their communities.
For me, this is a living out of Jesus’ hope that we might each find “life, and have it abundantly.”
Those words have also influenced my choice of charity as Show President.
I will be supporting Norfolk charities working with people experiencing homelessness, including St Martin’s Housing Trust, of which my wife Rachel is a trustee, Herring House Trust in Great Yarmouth, and the King’s Lynn Night shelter.
It would be wonderful to take the joy and camaraderie of the Royal Norfolk Show, its packed show-rings, the phenomenal talent and knowledge on display, busy businesses and crowds of happy people, and spread it back across the county, helping all our communities thrive every day of the year.
I hope you enjoy the 2026 Show, and if you see me around the Showground, please come and say ‘hello’.
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