Meet the Herefordshire Rural Hub team
The Herefordshire Rural Hub team is made up of people who own or manage farm or rural businesses in the county. It means they understand the realities of rural life and business.
Kate Speke
Herefordshire Rural Hub Managing Director
Kate has been a voluntary Director of the Hub since 2018, and in January 2023 she was appointed as Managing Director to lead on the development of the Hub, made possible by the Prince’s Countryside Fund Farm Support Group initiative.
For the previous eight years Kate worked at The Wye & Usk Foundation, establishing and managing a team of farm advisers and delivering projects to support farm businesses to take action to enhance their farms & deliver benefits for water and wildlife.
Frances Keogh
Herefordshire Rural Hub Administrator
Fran keeps the Hub’s administration in order and and assists on various hub projects. She combines this with farm administration work which gives her working knowledge of the issues that farmers encounter on a day to day basis.
She is a member of the National and local Herefordshire branch of the Institute of Agricultural Secretaries & Administrators and is an active member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs RC Church in Hereford.
In her spare time she enjoys walking, cooking, cryptic crosswords, and spending time with her family especially her grandchildren.
Christine Hope
Herefordshire Rural Hub Director
Christine is founder of one of Herefordshire’s leading local food retailers, Hopes of Longtown. She also runs Hope to Achieve, an enterprise that is a business mentor to start up and small businesses.
She represents Golden Valley and Black Mountains Experience group to improve the tourism offer and is a Governor at Peterchurch Primary School.
Christine aims to be a rural community champion and was delighted to be the catalyst that sparked the interest of film maker Ann Cottinger to follow six young rural people for over 12 months creating the documentary film “Tune for the Blood”.