Gail Lewis has been named chair of the Avondale Grange Neighbourhood Board, placing a long-serving Kettering volunteer and former teacher at the centre of a £20 million Pride in Place programme for the area.
The board will oversee how the UK Government-backed investment is shaped over the next 10 years. Its work will include building a local regeneration plan, identifying priorities with residents and deciding how funding should be directed in Avondale Grange.
Lewis, who has lived in Kettering for 45 years, will take on the voluntary role after decades of work in education, healthcare and local community organisations.
£20 million programme for Avondale Grange
The Pride in Place programme is designed to support long-term neighbourhood investment rather than one-off projects. In Avondale Grange, the Neighbourhood Board will be expected to develop a shared 10-year vision for the area and turn that into a regeneration plan.
That means the board’s early work is likely to focus on evidence gathering, community engagement and agreement on local priorities before spending decisions are made. The chair’s role is to convene the board, support transparent governance and help keep residents, partners, councillors and the local MP involved in the process.
For people living in Avondale Grange, the appointment matters because it identifies who will guide the board as the programme moves from a funding announcement into local planning. The board will be responsible for shaping how the money is used, with residents expected to have a route into the conversation about what the area needs most.
North Northamptonshire has other Pride in Place schemes running nearby, including in Queensway in Wellingborough and in Kingswood, Hazel Leys and Exeter in Corby. Beehiveweb has also covered how Corby’s Pride in Place board is beginning to take shape under the same local regeneration funding model.
Gail Lewis’s record in Kettering and Northamptonshire
Lewis’s background spans both professional public service and voluntary work. She first qualified as a dental therapist in 1980 and worked across Northamptonshire, later becoming chair of the British Association of Dental Therapists.
In 2003, she moved into teaching, initially in Corby. She later worked in special needs education at Kingsley Special School in Kettering and Kings Meadow School in Northampton.
Her later education roles included special needs co-ordinator posts at Thorplands Primary School in Northampton and Isebrook School in Kettering. That experience is likely to be relevant to a neighbourhood board expected to balance different community needs and hear from families, young people and residents who may not always be reached by formal consultations.
Lewis now volunteers at Kettering Food Bank. During the pandemic, she also volunteered at Kettering General Hospital, helping with the vaccine rollout.
Her previous local roles include chairing Rothwell Infant School Friends Association, chairing Bishop Stopford School Friends Association and serving as vice chair of governors at Rothwell Junior School.
How residents may be involved
The chair’s responsibilities include championing community engagement and helping to co-create the Pride in Place vision for Avondale Grange. The council said the board will work with the local MP, councillors, partners, community representatives and residents.
The voluntary chair position was open to people who live or work in North Northamptonshire and have strong links with Avondale Grange. Lewis’s selection gives the board a chair with long local ties and experience across schools, health settings and community volunteering.
The next major test for the board will be how clearly it sets out resident involvement. For the programme to reflect local priorities, people in Avondale Grange will need accessible ways to feed in views before the regeneration plan is finalised.
That may include conversations about public spaces, community facilities, local services, safety, skills, access and the condition of neighbourhood infrastructure. The exact priorities will be determined through the board’s planning process rather than by the funding announcement alone.
The decisions still to come
The £20 million allocation is spread across 10 years, so the programme will depend on sequencing as well as ambition. Early decisions will need to establish what can be delivered quickly, what needs longer preparation and how the board will report progress to residents.
The Avondale Grange Neighbourhood Board will now be expected to shape a regeneration plan that identifies local priorities and sets out how funding should be spent.
The board’s work will sit alongside similar Pride in Place programmes in Queensway, Wellingborough, and Kingswood, Hazel Leys and Exeter in Corby.
Source: North Northamptonshire Council
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This article is based on the council announcement and separates confirmed details from future board decisions.
- Confirmed Gail Lewis as chair of the Avondale Grange Neighbourhood Board.
- Checked the stated £20 million Pride in Place funding period of 10 years.
- Matched the role description to the board’s stated duties on governance, engagement and th...
- Kept future spending priorities conditional because they have not yet been set.
- Source
- North Northamptonshire Council
- Scope
- Kettering
- Updated
- 2026-06-02 16:44
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