Features - CPRE, the countryside charity

You are here:
Home
Be inspired
Features

Magazine

Our countryside: a manifesto for the next government

Butterfly watching: the perfect day out in the countryside

CPRE volunteer Alienor Hammer on spending a day watching butterflies in the countryside

We're making some changes

Over the past 18 months we’ve been finding out how our members, supporters and the public feel about the countryside, what it means to them and why they care about it. We were delighted to hear that:

• 80% love spending time in the countryside
• 90% think the countryside is good for their mental wellbeing
• 86% think the countryside should be for everyone
• Over 20 million people would be willing to support a charity that helps them promote, enhance and protect the countryside.

Source: YouGov Profiles GB x CPRE bespoke research April 2019, natrep 1763 adults

However, we also found that just 22% of adults in England have heard of CPRE and, if they have, they’re not aware of all we do. It’s clear we need to make people more aware of our work, attract more support and volunteers – and increase our impact even further.

So, we have been looking at how we can broaden our appeal and be clearer on why we do what we do. There is clear evidence of growing public concern for the environment, the impact of climate breakdown and awareness of the benefits countryside brings to our mental and physical wellbeing. We need to grasp this opportunity so that we can achieve our aim of a thriving and beautiful countryside that enriches all our lives.

Our research showed that CPRE can be perceived as negative, and this can put potential supporters off, even if they love the countryside. Promoting a greater understanding and appreciation of the countryside – its benefits and fragility – helps people connect with it emotionally, and want to find ways to improve and protect it to benefit people and nature. We need to give equal emphasis to the work we do to promote, enhance and of course, protect the countryside. Our new strategic aims - to ‘Connect people and countryside’, ‘Promote rural life’ and ‘Empower communities’ will help us do that.

We’ve also developed a really eye-catching new look, inspired by the colours and shapes of our countryside and will start to refer to the organisation as ‘CPRE, the countryside charity’ – making it immediately clear what we focus on and that we’re a charity. We’re confident that our new strategic plan and the projects being developed will help us attract new support for our campaigns and put CPRE on a sustainable footing for the next generation.

You will start to see this new look roll-out during the rest of this year, with a new website launching in the autumn. So watch this space!

Calling all graduates...

For the past three years, CPRE has run an annual graduate scheme, employing three recent graduates for 12 months at the beginning of their career.

How you can make a difference in the local elections

At CPRE, we are big believers in local democracy and in the importance of people and communities having an influence over the decisions that affect their lives. Find out why it's so important that we get out and vote in these elections!