I was born in Holme and raised in Yaxley, spending much of my childhood at our family homes on Middletons Road and Hillcrest Avenue. I attended Yaxley Infant School, Yaxley CofE Junior School and then Stanground College.

My parents Bob and Heather Howell both lived and worked in the village, my Mum as a post lady and then a receptionist at the Doctor’s surgery and my Dad at various farms and as a delivery driver.

I have lived most of my adult life in the local area and currently live in Farcet and work in Yaxley.

I have been heavily involved in local community initiatives for around 15 years now, starting off as a Rainbow leader in Girlguiding, before progressing to the Brownies as an assistant leader and finally a district commissioner, overseeing local groups.  I was also involved with helping to run the fireworks nights as part of the Group Scout Council.

Following on from that I have been involved from the start with Yaxley Festival, an event which has gone on to inspire many other local community initiatives.

Since the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic I have been co-leading the Yaxley and Farcet Support Network, which was formed by volunteers to help residents in our parishes and beyond. Our team has responded to 1800+ support requests with a 100% success rate.

I run my own small business providing admin support to other business owners and am also involved in supporting various charities, community groups and social enterprises.