31 Mar
Colin Aubrey Thackwell was born in Wimbledon, South London in AUGUST 1941. Colin did not like school at all, and repeatedly played truant until he was caught out by faking sick notes from his mother. HE LEFT SCHOOL AT the age of 15 with no qualifications whatsoever. Colin tried a number of different jobs ranging from a grounds man on a golf course, to a long line of other jobs in the retail trade and the construction industry before really finding his true vocation. Colin was really looking for a career and independence, and in 1961 he joined the Royal Signals in the army where he stayed for 22 years, finally leaving the services in 1983. Colin says that the army gave him a roof over his head, a solid career, and more importantly he made some very good, lifelong friends. Colin started in the army as a “Private”, working his way up to Staff Sergeant and was based in Catterick in North Yorkshire as well as spending some time in Sheffield. He was posted to a number of overseas destinations over the years including Cyprus, Germany, and Canada. When Colin retired from the army, he fulfilled a number of roles over the next 13 years until he retired in 2001. He was in the civil service for 2 years, spent 5 years as a carpet fitter and finally ended his working life as a security officer in the bank of England print works. It was during the first 2 years of his army service that he met his wife Bronwyn at a “TROOP” party and they have been together ever since. They are still happily married today and have 4 children; 3 SONs and one DAUGHTER, 6 GRANDCHILDREN & 3 GREAT GRANDCHILDREN. Colin and Bronwyn had hoped to retire to Cyprus. They had lived there during Colin’s time in the army and loved it; however, at this time Cyprus was not in the EU so they thought it prudent to look elsewhere. It was pure chance that early in the year 2000 they visited an exhibition in a local hotel in London offering inspection trips to the Costa Calidá. One of these trips was an estate agent called “Grupo FIM”, agents for Grupo Masa, the promoter of Camposol. Colin and Bronwyn loved the area and quickly settled on an off-plan purchase for a Fortuna style villa, on Camposol sector B which is where they still live today. Colin and Bronwyn’s villa were one of the first to be completed on this sector of Camposol. There was no road, and no proper access to the property. Colin can clearly remember that he moved ABOUT 16 tons of earth just to be able to climb up to his front door, and was always looking for anyone building a pool to let him HAVE anything at all as “backfill”! Some people today are horrified by a few pot holes, if only you could see how it was all those years ago, you would have been amazed. Colin and his wife are keen dog lovers and have taken a very active part in dog rescue and fostering over the years. Colin can remember in the very early days of what is now Noah’s Arc, helping 2 ladies, Tracy and Barbara wherever he could. He was on the first committee for this charity that still exists today. After 14 months of this, Colin decided to leave Noah’s Arc and help a man by the name of John Kemp with the puppies instead. Many of you will remember “John the Barber” where many of the puppies resided whilst waiting for homes. Colin would often take dogs and puppies into his own home too, when there was simply no one else to take them. The current number of dogs they have is down to 4, the lowest number in years! When Colin reached his 70th birthday he decided to give up his voluntary work for the animals and help raise funds for some of the other local charities for which he has raised several hundred Euros. Who remembers PALS and the café fund? Some of these events include organisation of the first 2 MABS race for life based in Camposol, and cycling to raise money for FAST and Forget Me Not which are 2 very worthwhile charities based in Camposol. Colin’s most recent event was a mammoth 700 kilometre cycle ride to raise money for the “Campobus” project and just when you think this really must be it, he completed a 100 mile cycle ride in August 2019 to raise money for The British Heart Foundation, and FAST at the grand old age of 78! THAT BIRTHDAY WAS 2 DAYS BEFORE THE RIDE!. Colin had a spell of ill health but has recovered. He is also intending to continue to help in the community wherever he can. His future projects include helping “B Clean” the volunteer gardening group, keeping fit, and repairing bicycles. He is a true community player and is often found to be moving unwanted rubbish from our bin areas or liaising with Aqualia with regard to frequent water leaks on his sector. We do appreciate you Colin!
