Meet our new Manager!

This month we’ve been delighted to welcome new CPRE Bedfordshire Manager, Jane Lee, to the team. Here she introduces herself.

I’m excited to be the new Manager at CPRE Bedfordshire; let me introduce myself. I have lived in Bedfordshire for around 30 years and love to get out and explore the range of environments in the county, from walking around the countryside near my home and in the chalk hills of the Chilterns, to kayaking along the river near Bedford.

I grew up in a tiny village in rural Warwickshire, surrounded by rolling hills with open fields and woodland. I spent a lot of time immersed in the countryside and walking through beech woods. This is where I developed my interest in plants and being outdoors, and wider environmental issues. My desire is to enlighten young people to the beauty of nature and spaces around them, so that they can enjoy and nurture it for themselves – some of which I try to do as local Cub leader.

It is recognised that Bedfordshire is under a lot of pressure for land use and we need to work hard to make sure it is looked after for future generations. I have been delighted to be involved as a volunteer on the Hedgerow Heroes project and look forward to a lot more planting. It gave me the opportunity to have a go at hedge laying, something I have fancied doing for a long time, as I’m a practical, hands on sort of a person. A personal hope of mine is to see more consideration for trees and succession planting to make sure the future generations can appreciate beautiful mature trees around them, as well as helping to maintain the important biodiversity that trees provide.

I hope to meet some of you in person in the future, maybe at our AGM in the autumn, members events, or through hedgerow planting.