Rita Howell

(Committee Member, Secretary/Membership Secretary)

I was born in Cambridge but when my father returned home after the war we moved to South Ockendon in Essex, where his large family lived. I have a sister and a brother. My secondary school was Grays County Technical.  When I left school I worked in the Personnel Department at Hedleys, then moved to Fords as a secretary to one of the Finance Managers.  After I married we moved to Harlow, where I worked at Cossor Instruments and, as was customary in those days, left when I was expecting my first child.  My husband and father-in-law were in the building trade so we bought a plot of land at Gt Waldingfield, built a bungalow and moved to, what was then, a very small village.

Following a divorce in 1972 I moved with my four children to Bury St Edmunds, remarried in 1974 and have enjoyed living and working in the town since that time.  I now have 6 grandchildren ages ranging from 23 years to 23 months.

Throughout my adult life I have been involved in voluntary work as I believe you should try to give something back to your community if you are able to do so. I was a founding member of the PTA at Guildhall Feoffment School, which my children attended.  For ten years I was a Brownie Guider and a Guide Guider for 2nd St Mary’s and I am still a tester for the Guide movement when required.  I have been an Editor for Newstalk, which is our local Talking Newspaper for the Blind, for many years and enjoy the challenge of producing an interesting, informative and varied tape of local news for our area.  I have been a Friday night volunteer at the lovely Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds since 1986 and look forward to my weekly duty showing people to their seats, selling ice creams, sweets, coffee and tea. 

I enjoy walking so take our dog named Rox, who is a rescue cross Collie/Labrador, for long walks in the park or over the footpaths to the Heath and further afield. 

Although I enjoy Upbeat’s excellent exercise classes my favourite time of the week is my yoga class. I started classes in the mid ‘80s and have learned over the years how to switch off my busy mind and relax completely.  People generally think that in yoga you have to tie yourself in knots but there are many postures which are gentle and can be of benefit to all age groups. I had a serious RTA in 1996 and I know that besides the skill of the surgeons the disciplines I had learned in yoga played a significant part in my recovery.  My favourite movement is the cat, but try as I might I cannot emulate my cat, Ami’s, lovely fluid style.  My top tip for the day is to practice relaxation techniques – they come in very useful when on the motorway in a traffic jam!