Lights, Camera, Community: University of Northampton students capture the spirit of Northamptonshire’s unsung heroes

Seven creative media students stepped behind the lens to document an unforgettable night celebrating the county’s most inspiring community champions.

Last Wednesday (26 December 2025), the students delivered professional photography and video footage for Northamptonshire Community Foundation’s annual awards ceremony, capturing the magic of the evening as local people were recognised for their inspiring work.

The Northamptonshire Community Foundation Awards 2025 celebrated local heroes by recognising outstanding contributions to the community by dozens of small, grassroots charities and dedicated volunteers from across the county, with awards presented across eight categories.

The creative crew of students included Sam Birch, Neve Laurence, Liz Andrews, Evie Bunting, Ava Payne-Spelman, Matthew Timlin, and Savina Yonashkova, with Technician Demonstrators Laurence Maybury and Laura Stewart supporting from the wings.

Neve reflected on her experience working at the awards evening and said: “My role as producer was to oversee the evening in a client-based filming environment with my fellow cohort. The evening was a success and a joy to see people of the county come together and celebrate those doing good work for the community.”

As the lights faded on the night of celebration, Becky Bradshaw reflected: “I want to extend my sincerest congratulations to our exceptional student team for their remarkable efforts on the Northamptonshire Community Foundation awards coverage last night. Their professionalism and dedication were outstanding, and it was incredibly gratifying to hear such positive feedback from a variety of stakeholders, all of whom were impressed by their superb professionalism.”

Deputy Head of the School of Culture and the Creative Industries, Dr Anthony Stepniak – who led the collaboration between UON and Northamptonshire Community Foundation – said: “Here at UON, we are extremely proud of the local, regional and national connections we continue to nurture to ensure our students have the opportunity to flex their skills in real-world environments, as well as adding immense social impact to our county and beyond.

“This industry experience is the latest in a long line of opportunities we offer our students to gain industry-level experience, following on the coattails of BBC Northamptonshire

“As always, I have been hugely impressed with the professionalism demonstrated by these students, and I look forward to hearing about their future successes as industry professionals.”

Find out more about studying Creative Film, Television and Digital Media Production at the University of Northampton.

*The University of Northampton’s Creative Film, Television and Digital Media Production degree ranked 11th nationally in the latest Guardian University Guide 2026, a national league table which ranks the country’s universities across eight measures of performance, including how satisfied students are with their course and their chances of getting a good job after graduating.