Our Volunteer Movement 2024

Now that 2024 has come to a close, we’re celebrating the growth, impact and power of our volunteer movement at CPRE.

We’re fortunate enough to have an expanding network of over 2,000 CPRE volunteers across England, who are collectively supporting and growing our movement. We’re so thankful for the time, dedication and passion that our volunteers bring to CPRE. As we look back on the year, we’d like to celebrate their invaluable contributions and recognise the efforts of local CPRE charities in supporting them.

Volunteer stories and achievements

Since the beginning of 2024, over 380 new volunteers joined us across the network, and we were delighted to welcome an increasing number of younger volunteers as well as those from diverse backgrounds into our movement. At National CPRE, we shone a particular spotlight on some of these inspiring individuals by sharing their stories on our website and social media channels. During Volunteers’ Week, we published this series of stories, showcasing how younger volunteers are taking action on important countryside issues. We also heard from some of our Rural Affordable Housing Research volunteers, Bessie and Annet, as well as two planning volunteers who are providing a youth perspective on placemaking, Jess and Poppy. To help us celebrate Trustees’ Week, some of our inspiring trustees spoke to us about their experiences and explained why they enjoy trusteeship with CPRE.

In 2024, local groups recognised 20 fantastic volunteers from across the network with a Volunteer Award. Ryan Morgan, a new younger trustee from CPRE Derbyshire, was awarded the New Trustee Award for his brilliant leadership of CPRE Derbyshire’s Living Countryside Awards. Meanwhile, Alasdair Foreman, a dedicated trustee of CPRE Lancashire, Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester, was awarded the Special Trustee Award for his successful delivery of Greater Manchester Ringway project, a 200-mile walking trail passing through every borough in Greater Manchester. You can read about all our inspiring 2024 award winners here.

Impactful projects and events

Throughout last year, CPRE groups worked extremely hard to plan and deliver meaningful activities and projects for our countryside. Congratulations were in order for CPRE Herefordshire, after winning the 2024 Dark Sky International Bob Gent Community Leadership Award for their impactful Dark Skies citizen science project. Their fantastic team of citizen science volunteers help to protect Herefordshire’s dark skies by mapping the light pollution levels across the county. Several volunteers were also busy supporting CPRE Hampshire’s brand new Magnificent Meadows Project in 2024, which aims to tackle the nature and climate emergencies by restoring chalk grassland areas within the county. You can watch the volunteers hard at work and hear about the hay-making process in this video.

2024 also saw eight local CPRE groups host their own Countryside Day event on 7 September. From walking tours, hedgerow workshops, farm visits, to children’s activities, our network of local CPRE charities celebrated all that’s wonderful about our countryside, with the invaluable help and support of volunteers. We hope that this day becomes an annual tradition, helping to strengthen connections with nature and foster unity within our communities.

Reaching new audiences

Many CPRE groups made efforts to engage new audiences in their activities too; CPRE Oxfordshire ran their first Student Planning Ambassador Scheme in early 2024. Three student volunteers from Oxford Brooks University gained real-world planning experience by helping to review and respond to important local development planning applications across the county. Meanwhile, CPRE Somerset were busy celebrating a brilliant boost to their fantastic 2-minute Litter Pick project, which involves over 250 volunteers and several SEND schools within the county. SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK generously donated 60 litter picking kits for the project in 2024, enabling CPRE Somerset to further expand their litter picking army and continue empowering young litter superstars across Somerset.

In early 2024, phase three of CPRE’s Hedgerow Heroes project was successfully completed, with thousands of volunteers helping to plant and restore hedgerows across nine counties in England. CPRE groups in Avon & Bristol, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, London, Oxfordshire, Peak District & South Yorkshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Suffolk each co-ordinated their own hedgerow-related activities, from talks to training sessions and planting days. CPRE Oxfordshire and Wild Oxfordshire collaborated to create this showreel, celebrating the brilliant success of their hedgerow project and CPRE Shropshire connected with the Young Wilders to expand their volunteer network for the project. You can hear from them in this video, put together by film maker Robin Fellows-Weir.

Finally, let’s not forget that at National CPRE, we were supported by a team of over 100 Online Campaigns Activists who volunteered to champion our campaigning work in the run-up to the 2024 General Election. We launched this new, flexible role specifically to allow younger and more diverse voices to be heard on environmental issues such as climate change and the green belt. Our activists played a crucial role in building momentum around CPRE’s campaigns, by completing quick and easy actions at a time that suited them. We also developed links with London-based universities to recruit two fantastic database volunteers to assist us with our CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, with one volunteer progressing onto a paid role with CPRE!

Looking ahead to 2025

The contribution and achievements of our CPRE volunteers showcased here provide just a glimpse of the meaningful difference they’ve made in their communities and for our countryside in 2024. That said, we look forward to seeing the strength and collective power of our CPRE volunteer network grow even further as we head into 2025 and beyond.

The countryside continues to face many challenges and opportunities. It’s never been a better time to join our friendly, inclusive and impactful volunteer movement for the protection, promotion and enhancement of our countryside and communities. Volunteers are at the heart of our charity, so if you’d like to get involved, take a look at our current opportunities here or get in touch with us at volunteeringteam@cpre.org.uk.