Kings Lynn Mayor Colin Talbot Sampson and Mayoress Susan Sampson are to attend the Home Instead Open Day at the Kings Lynn Town Hall on the 2nd September 2011,
They have been asked to attend on behalf of Owner Jeannette McEwan to come along and welcome visitors to the event, plus share personal views on Home Care.
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE MAYOR AND MAYORESS:
Mayor 2011-2012 - Councillor Colin Sampson
Colin Talbot Sampson was born on 7th September 1948 in Hampshire. Shortly after that the family moved to Scotland where he still has cousins. He likes to maintain his half Scottish status! Ten years later he moved to Derbyshire and attended school in Bakewell. He played cricket and rugby for the school and was rugby captain for the county. He found time to pass just enough exams to be employed by the Sun Alliance Insurance Group in Sheffield. Following moves with the job to Sussex, The City, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and finally to Downham Market he took early retirement in 1998, having been an insurance surveyor for most of the time. He says that one or two prominent landmarks in the Borough were surveyed by him at some time so he feels at home here!
For 23 years Colin served in the Territorial Army, rising through the ranks to captain; he went all over the UK as well as overseas, just escaping service in the Falklands during the war. He completed the Nijmegen Marches one year and learned what blisters were during those 100 miles, though said it was a great experience.
Colin is very keen on bird-watching and railways, both real and model. At one time when he was involved in protecting the ospreys at Loch Garten, there was an attack from an egg collector. The collector failed but escaped which Colin regarded as a pity! He was also involved with the re-introduction of ospreys to England at Rutland Water. Whilst at Loch Garden he also climbed his only “Munroâ€Â, a mountain over 3000ft high. His passion for railways includes being chairman of the Fen Line Users Association and Colin is always trying to improve the lot of passengers travelling from King's Lynn, Watlington and Downham Market to Cambridge and London.
Another favourite pastime is following cricket and rugby, though mainly from his armchair these days. He is also a member of the Royal British Legion, the Hertfordshire Regiment Old Comrades Association and the Royal Army Pay Corps Association, the RSPB, BTO and WWT.
Colin served the people of Downham Market as a Town Councillor for 12 years and in 2005 was appointed Mayor of the town. He was elected to the Borough Council in May 2007 and in 2009 was appointed as one of the Borough's representatives on the Board of Freebridge Community Housing Ltd. He is a member of the Southern Area Road Safety Committee, a trustee of a local charity and on the committee of the local Burial Board in Downham Market, which administers the current cemetery and two now-closed ones. It is believed to be one of only two such bodies in the country which makes the work even more interesting, despite the rather grim nature of the subject!
Thirty-one years ago he met his wife, Susan, on a blind date arranged by friends and eight months later they were married. They have a daughter and a son-in-law living in Hertford and a daughter, son-in-law and grandson living in Downham Market, all of whom they are very proud. Colin knows that his wife will give him great support despite having plenty to do as an active member of the Women's Institute and Secretary of the local fund raising group of Macmillan Cancer Support. They are both members of St. Mary's Church in Denver.
Colin and Susan are looking forward to serving the Borough as Mayor and Mayoress.
