Burton & Grange

Alinda Howland

Alinda Howland was born and raised in Christchurch and lives near Mudeford Quay with her dog and cat. In 1977 she joined the Civil Service and spent almost 40 years climbing the career ladder, working as a tutor, investigator and manager. She also trained with the National Mentoring Consortium to mentor ethnic minority undergraduates and junior staff who wished to attain promotion to the Senior Civil Service. She specialised in taxation and forensic accounting and her final role before retiring was to manage a Criminal Finance Policy Team based in Westminster.

Three years ago Alinda was co-opted on to Burton and Winkton Parish Council and she has chaired the council since 2021. This has given her an opportunity to put her skills and interest in the environment and local history into practice. Alinda is also is a volunteer at the Forest Arts Centre running their Readers Group for many years.

Robert Dawson

Robert is married with two collies, three daughters and four grandchildren all living locally. He moved here to work at Christchurch Hospital as a physiotherapist in 1978.

Robert has subsequently spent much of his life solving problems in IT, designing and project managing solutions that are fit for purpose. This has taken him into the worlds of engineering, solicitors, banking and latterly into Primary and Secondary Health Care putting solutions into prisons, police and screening. Living in the town centre he is very aware of the social problems and the decline of retail. His real concern is climate change, its impact on communities and, in particular, on Christchurch.

Robert likes walking in wild places and otherwise spends his time walking dogs, designing ecological solutions, fixing stuff and doing a bit of sailing.