Regional Manager – AquAid Surrey

To date, meeting some of the AquAid team has taken us all over the U.K., as far as San Francisco in the USA, and even Tanzania, Africa with Ian Thorpe of The Africa Trust for Christmas with the Maasai.

Today we learn a bit more about Ross Dowsett, Regional Manager at AquAid Surrey.

Ross has been with AquAid Surrey since January 2004.  His position keeps him on his toes working a 10 hour day. When he’s not at work, much of his time is spent being a Dad, ferrying his children to various after school activities.

His 10 year old daughter does judo and plays various instruments on the school team and his 6 year old boy participates in football and swimming. Seems like busy runs in the family!

When he can find the time, Ross realises his grand passion for cooking.  He watches practically every cooking programme on TV and often tries out and recreates the dishes, with, as he says, ‘varied results’.

From what Ross told us, his results now are a far cry from the days when he started on this taste adventure.  Apparently, his first attempt at making his favourite dish from scratch – a Chicken & Apricot Curry from a Rick Stein recipe  – didn’t go quite as planned.

He confused tablespoon (Tbs.) with teaspoon (tsp.) measurements, and ended up having to glug a tub of natural yoghurt to stop the burn. Thankfully, the days of confusing measurements are long past and diners chez Ross are in for a treat.

He’s also been told that his Spaghetti Bolognaise is the best around, perfected from his mum’s recipe.  I have to agree – there’s nothing quite like a good Bolognaise – tops on the comfort food list.

Another activity that keeps Ross on his toes is, as he says, ‘trying to keep fit by taking long walks as often as is possible’ as each year he tries to ensure that he enters a 13+ mile walk for charity.  It’s this inspiration that gets him to go out on cold winter nights in all weathers to get a bit of training in.

On the 22nd of this month, Ross is doing the Marsden March. It is a 14 mile walk from the Royal Marsden Hospital Fulham to The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton. The Marsden Hospital specialises in the treatment of cancer.

This means a lot to Ross as he lost his mother to cancer 12 years ago and other people in his family are now battling the illness.

If any of you would like to sponsor Ross you can do so at Just Giving. All sponsorships, irrespective of the amount, will be for a most worthwhile cause!

So, there you have another of the ‘Meet the AquAid Team:’ – Ross Dowsett – super pretty much everything! Thanks for a slice of your valuable time, Ross!