Kate Powell, the Anna Chaplain for Alton, has loved getting to know the older community of Alton. She especially enjoys their colourful life stories and attitudes to life.

Our Growing Old Gracefully series shares the profiles of some of these amazing people and why they chose Alton to live out their final chapter of life. Here Kate talks to Norma Duke.

1) How old are you and how long have you lived in Alton?

I am a young at heart 75-year-old and have lived in Alton for 40 years this year.

2) What made you choose Alton?

We lived in a lovely village outside Alton but it didn’t have the facilities for our teenage children. Our garden was also too large for us to manage, so we decided to move to the metropolis!

It was an upheaval for the children as they had to change schools, and very soon after we moved my husband left me.

However, I joined the Alton Methodist Church, where I made lots of new friends who became a valuable support network to me and my children.

3) What do you like most about Alton?

I can definitely say that the people make Alton most special but, when I moved, I felt so lucky because of the good schools, the variety of shops and the community groups that were all very welcoming.

Soon after I was settled, my girls joined the Girls’ Brigade, and I used that as an opportunity to volunteer and ended up staying with them for over 20 years.

4) Tell me a little bit about a favourite time in your life?

There have been so many favourite times and I have done so much over the years, but the thing I am most proud of is the work I have done in Romania.

When I was 50, and my children had grown up, I went to work in a Romanian orphanage with children who had been born either with special needs or HIV.

Lots of people were frightened of the virus in those days but for some reason, which I put down to my faith, I wasn’t and I loved being able to help those little children.

This passion turned out to be the beginning of a massive enterprise of me collaborating with health professionals in Romania to provide much needed hospital equipment, medicines, prosthetics, wheelchairs and more.

My work in Romania continues to this day and I find it a joy and a privilege to be able to make a difference.

5) What are your hopes and dreams for the future?

My hope is to grow old sensibly - which might be difficult but I will try my best!

I have an amazing trip planned for next year, which is a cruise around the South Pacific Islands of Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu.

It has been a lifelong dream to go to the South Pacific so I am very excited and plan to enjoy every moment.

For further information on the Anna Chaplaincy, call Kate Powell on 07539 026546.