I first lived in the Tidworth area when I was posted to Busigny Barracks, Perham Down in 1969 for 3 years. I returned in 1978 to the Vehicle Depot at Ludgershall, living in married quarters at the top of Church Lane, Tidworth for another 3 years. In 1993, whilst serving at Bulford, I bought the house in Tidworth where I now live. House ownership leads you to become more interested and involved in your local community and so in 1996, I joined the Parish Council – the first serving soldier to do this for a very long time, if not the first ever. In 2000, I left the uniformed Army but continued to work as a Civil Servant for the Army for another 10 years. In 2010 I retired and was able to devote more time to my other interests, such as the Town Council. It was nice to be able to spend as long on a job as it needed, rather than having to fit it in. In my time on the Council, I have held many posts, serving as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council, Chair of Planning and Chair of Community Services. I have been involved in many projects and schemes, such as putting up bus shelters, putting up the main road street lights, purchasing the land that the Community Centre now stands on, helping Tidworth gain town status, working with the bus companies to improve and sustain the ACTIV8 route, bringing Tesco to Tidworth and assisting with the design of the War Memorial, to name but a few. It has been very rewarding to have been able to contribute to my community and very satisfying to have played a part in Tidworth’s development to date. I hope to be able to continue to do this for many years yet.