Spreading the word in Northamptonshire

Fran Hughes has been developing the online presence of CPRE Northamptonshire. Here, she tells us about her progress.

Fran lives on the edge of Northampton and spends time relaxing in the countryside around the town. Northamptonshire countryside is characterised by rolling hills dotted with villages. She said, ‘I wanted to get more involved in my local community and I thought that volunteering would be a good way to do that’. She applied through the website and started volunteering with CPRE Northamptonshire in 2024.

A rewarding challenge

As a Social Media and Website Volunteer, Fran plays a key role in representing the charity, engaging followers and readers with current campaigns and events across the network.

‘This could be local events that either we are doing or similar aligned organisations locally. It could be updates to do with planning applications or more general things, sharing CPRE National’s post or sometimes posts from other local branches that neighbour us because the things that they are posting can also affect us.’

She also shares the newsletter on the website, updating the archive so that readers can view news items from anytime in the past.

Among other things, Fran has revitalised the group’s Facebook presence and created a new Instagram page, a rewarding challenge for her. Although she had some experience of using Instagram, it’s been a learning curve to create a page from scratch. However, her efforts have been hugely valuable for the group. In recognition of Fran’s dedication and impact, CPRE Northamptonshire have nominated her as part of our National Volunteer Awards 2025. Read more here.

In this video, Fran tells us what she enjoys most about volunteering with CPRE.

Past, Present and Future

Reflecting on her time volunteering so far, a highlight for Fran was the charity’s AGM in 2024. In the meeting, she thought about the history of their venue: Lamport Hall, a Tudor country house set in the Northamptonshire countryside.

‘I’d been there before but I’d only really seen the grounds. It was nice just to go there and to get to know everyone, to think about our plans as individuals and our own aims for CPRE, and wider aims for the year ahead… While we were there, I just kept thinking about other discussions people would have had there through the hundreds of years of history of the house. And I was thinking if we return there again in about a year’s time, what will we have achieved, and what will we be working on?’

Get Involved

Fran’s reflections highlight the important part we play in history: the impact of the past, and how our current actions affect the future. CPRE is playing a key role in supporting and protecting the countryside, and we would love you to be a part of it. If you would like to get involved in the work of your local CPRE, or view our other countrywide volunteering opportunities, take a look at our volunteering pages and current opportunities.

If you are considering volunteering with us, here is a message from Fran:

CPRE Northamptonshire

You can check out the Instagram page here and Facebook page here.