A local mother, Roxanne Stanton, has been working hard since July 2022 to unite the Oakham community by creating a safe space to share views, hobbies and more on Facebook. 

Roxanne, despite not living in Oakham for that long, is incredibly passionate about the area and enjoys the scenery, community, and other 'hidden gems' that make Rutland so desirable to both tourists and incoming residents. 

As such, she has created a Facebook community page, along with close friend Belinda Cadman, with the hopes of enabling Oakham-locals to make the most of their local amenities, opportunities, and community. 

All Saints' Church and Remembrance memorial (image courtesy of Roxanne Stanton)

The Facebook page, Oakham Online Community UK, has amassed over 850 members since it was founded in July, welcoming residents in to what Roxanne describes as "a welcoming, educational" space.

Roxanne said: "I moved to Rutland in 2018 and settled in Oakham with my soon-to-be husband because it is such a beautiful area with many hidden gems and I had heard Rutland was a great place to raise younger children. It's also a beautiful location for photographing beautiful scenery, which is one of my hobbies. 

"I am not a professional but just want to share local images of our local area with our local people. I've always liked capturing an image as it happens or as I see it and then posting it to my personal Facebook page without doing much else with it. 

"Although there are many informational Facebook groups for Rutland, such as Information Rutland, I ended up speaking with a very close friend of mine, Belinda Cadman, after sharing some of the photos I had taken with her and realising that some of my posts were not being approved into certain groups. 

"We then decided that we wanted to create a group together to provide a welcoming, educational community group where businesses can post, my photos could be seen and members can share their new and views."

The group is closely monitored to ensure that the debates and posts are friendly. 

Roxanne added: "Myself and Belinda founded the group in July 2022, and it now has over 850 members, so I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed and invited others to join!"

Roxanne now has two children, who are under 2, and both enjoy joining her out and about in the local area taking photos. 

She hopes that the page continues to grow and encourages all who wish to spread the community spirit to join, even if they would only like to participate from the side lines.

Oakham has some magical side streets (image courtesy of Roxanne Stanton)

The group, Oakham Online Community UK, can be found on Facebook.

Alternatively, more of Roxanne's beautiful amateur photography can be found on Instagram.