Central Hove

Averil Older

Averil Older is Conservative Councillor for Central Hove, having been newly elected in May 2003. She is a member of the Planning and Licensing Committees and is vice-chairman of the Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee, where her knowledge of local history and her interest in the architecture of our City helps her deal with the many contentious issues this Council continues to face.

Before becoming a councillor, she worked as a guide in the Royal Pavilion and also ran guided tours for visitors, mainly around the Lanes and seafront areas.

She and her partner ran an historic Public House in the Brunswick area in the late 1980's before leaving for the Mediterranean, where they lived on their boat for three years.

Although born in Shropshire, her parents moved the family to Brighton in the early 1950's and twenty years ago she moved to her present address in Hove, near George Street.

She enjoys visiting antique fairs and car-boot sales and is a member of the National Trust. She is also a member of the Brighton Society, Hove Civic Society, Volks Electric Railway Association and the local Max Miller Appreciation Society, as well as a Friend of the Royal Pavilion and St Andrews in Waterloo Street. She sits on the committee of the Alzheimer's Society and is a Governor of Hillside School in Portslade.

To contact Averil, please call 294360

Email averil.older@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Jan Young

Having spent most of my young life in Stoke-on-Trent I moved to Surrey at the age of 15. At 16 I passed the Civil Service exam and worked until my marriage and birth of my daughter in the Post Office Telephones dept. in Guildford.

From the Trustees Savings Bank (where I worked while my children were little) to running a Flying Club is a long leap, but being slightly bored and seeing the job advertised for a few weeks, I went along for an interview out of interest, and spent 10 happy years amongst the flying fraternity at Fairoaks in Chobham Surrey.

From Surrey to Northumberland may seem a long way to travel, but not as far as going from flying to diving, via working in Education finance in Newcastle.

The Diving Club was in Goswick just outside of Berwick on Tweed, and I lived in a house on the beach. The majority of the divers (who came to dive on the Farne Isles) came from around the Southern area.

From the northern end of England to the South was my next and last epic journey, coming to rest in Hove and working for Kidsons, and then Hilton Sharpe and Clarke both local Accountancy firms.

Still not quite settled I started my own accountancy practice 22 years ago and am still working hard.

Why Local politics?

It is hard to work in the local community without getting involved with other people’s lives or without being aware of how the political environment has an impact on us all. Spending a lot of my time helping business to run both efficiently and effectively it occurred to me that a Council or even a Government is (or should be) a large business with lots of departments, and as such run just the same.

Being lucky enough to be elected as your local councillor gives me the opportunity to use a lot of my experience and especially being on the Overview and Scrutiny committees, which involves reviewing decisions and policy and ensuring the recommendations made have been carried out.

On a personal level I live with my partner Peter in Hove, and have two wonderful children Helen and Kevin, who have given me two beautiful granddaughters.

To contact Jan, please call 294361

Email jan.young@brighton-hove.gov.uk