I moved to Seaview from an Oxfordshire village with my husband four years ago. I have been
coming to Seaview for holidays all my life and we wanted to give our five grandchildren the same
wonderful memories of a safe and stimulating environment in which to grow up. We are often to be
found crabbing off the rocks or flying kites or radio-control planes on the playing-field.
I first worked in France for a microbiology company but moved back to the UK to start a family
where I was a member and chair of various village committees including playgroup and the villagehall.
I was also treasurer of the Parish Church for twelve years. These have all given me such good
experience of working with others at village-level to common objectives and ensuring good
governance of finances and management of other people be they volunteers or staff.
These experiences laid the foundations to working for an international humanitarian organisation
for much of my working life, developing procedures to manage large government funded
programmes and subsequently conduct audits of correct procedure, application and financial
management of these contracts in challenging environments.
I am now retired and care for my husband, who has mobility issues, but I do get out around the
village and beyond every day with Rufus our black Labrador. This allows me to meet many people
and learn more about the issues and challenges facing this part of the Isle of Wight. The ethos of
working within a strong team at Council level, with a genuine drive to make positive changes for
local people, is a powerful concept; there is so much that could get done for the benefit of this
unique Island.