About thame.net

Aims and vision

Thame.net aims to connect people, businesses and the community. Through building awareness of what’s on our doorstep, we can continue to support our local economy and maintain a vibrant community. Our super small team of volunteers are here to help you tell the community what you’re up to – and how people can get involved.

Content on thame.net includes local volunteer opportunities, things to do in Thame, locally generated interest articles, job vacancies and a business directory. The aim is to publish and share content that continues to be of local interest and helps to raise the profile of our wonderful market town. 

We also create unique content that helps to support the values of our town – such as caring for the environment and the people of our community and beyond. 

History and handover

Thame.net was set up in 1998 by webmaster Iain Fairweather. The Thame Gazette covered the launch with a front-page title of ‘Thame joins the World Wide Web’.

Click here to view a larger image and read a copy of the original article.

In 2003, Thame.net changed hands and was owned by independent journalist, Sonja Francis. Sonja lovingly created and curated the content that you see in the archive area of the site.

In 2021, Thame.net had a major overhaul and investment in the hands of Thame-based positivity coach and marketing consultant Laura Fellows. Laura’s day job consists of running Laura Fellows Coaching and Hamsterlips Marketing Consulting but Laura has such a love for her town that she runs Thame.net and creates much of the content in her own time having made the personal financial investment during the rebrand of 2020/2021. 

Thame.net in 2021

The overhaul included the development of a new brand and extending the site content from news to now cover a range of categories, including well-being, business and the other categories you see today. While working with local businesses and charities, Laura noticed an opportunity to help create content that tells the story of what we have on our doorstep and to help reflect the values of the town through the creation of original online content – so we can get to know the people and businesses we have on our doorstep on a deeper level and understand how we can get involved within the local community.

Laura says that “…advertising is great, but what people really connect with is behind-the-scenes style content. It’s great to know there’s a Thatching company based in Thame, but what’s more interesting is how that company creates their own tools or deals with straw shortages or even how they developed their craft to become part of The Guild of Master Craftsmen.” Laura has worked as an Online Marketing Manager and Global Content Marketing Manager and gave up a life in the corporate world to help local businesses and now combines her experience with her passion for Thame and everything local to create and manage the Thame.net you see today. Laura also keeps busy with her passion for where food and science meet – specifically the world of Prebiotics. Laura and another Thame-based lady run a Prebiotics food, drink and magazine subscription box service to help people learn what their good gut bacteria like to eat.

How do I get involved?

If you’re a business wanting to raise your awareness, or just support a local community site, then you can advertise or publish an article with us. If you’re an individual then you can get involved in a wide range of ways.  If you want to help, then I’m sure we’ll find something you can work with us on – there’s a lot to do in front and behind the scenes to keep Thame.net running and relevant for the town. We’d love to know more about you, your business or your community group. We often need help taking local photos, covering local events, writing articles, promoting the site and much more.

Get in touch and tell us about yourself and let’s see how we can work together!