A Swanage couple has celebrated 60 years of marriage with a special riverside break at The Priory Hotel in Wareham, Dorset, and a chance to reflect on six remarkable decades together.
George and Christine Dowdell marked their diamond wedding anniversary on Thursday 27th August 2026, having first met as teenagers through a church youth group.
The couple were married in August 1966 after meeting at a church youth group
Set up a charity to tackle poverty
Their life together has since taken them across the world, through careers, charity work and family life, eventually bringing them to Swanage, which they describe as the perfect location.
And they have created a lasting legacy – not only did they set up a charity almost 40 years ago to tackle poverty in developing nations which is still going strong today, but Christine also donated a kidney to a fellow churchgoer to keep him alive.
They say their anniversary break is a chance to spend time together and just ‘chill’ in the grounds of the popular Wareham hotel before seeing friends and family at the weekend.
The couple, who have three children, six grandchildren and five great grandchildren, saw Swanage for the first time during a family visit before the Covid pandemic, and knew they had to relocate from their home in Hampshire.
The Dowdell’s charity helped teach families in Sri Lanka skills to support themselves
“We have such a lot to be thankful for”
Christine Dowdell said:
“We hadn’t planned to move, we were happy where we were in Hampshire, where we had been for 50 years in three different homes, but we came to visit family here and immediately thought what a wonderful place it was.
“We were happy for them, but just thought we’d love to come here too, and we haven’t regretted it one bit. We have a flat overlooking the sea with a floor to ceiling view – it’s wonderful to wake up to, and we have taken so many photographs of sunrises in Swanage!
“We belong to the Emmanuel Baptist Church and we were both in a choir, but now it’s just me. I used to sing with the Belvedere Singers, but now I’m in Harmony Rocks at Harman’s Cross, it’s brilliant!
“We have such a lot to be thankful for – for one another, for all our family and friends, for living in such an amazing place, and for seeing our Diamond Wedding anniversary.
“Our card from King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived last weekend and we are very proud of it! We will now have a quiet day for our anniversary and see more of our friends and family at the weekend – we have a room overlooking the river here, and we are really looking forward to the break!”
Kingscare, set up in 1988, helped to build schools and deliver health care in small rural villages
One of UK’s first computer specialists
George was just 19 when the couple met and not quite 21 when they married. They were living near Portsmouth at the time and, after their wedding, moved to Wimbledon in London so that George could be closer to his work.
He had previously worked for a high street bank, but joined a large boiler making company, Cranes, in London, as one of the country’s first computer specialists at a time when the machines were ‘monstrous’.
After becoming a systems analyst and moving to a smaller company, he sold his share in it and took a year out to investigate his long held dream of wanting to make the world a better place.
The couple leave a lasting legacy of millions of lives improved around the world
“We built schools in rural villages”
George Dowdell said:
“I never went back into proper paid work, because I started a charity, Kingscare, doing overseas work in Sri Lanka, India, and various other countries, tackling poverty for the poorest people.
“We set up various relief schemes to help achieve that, giving small loans to families and training them in carpentry and other skills so they could start small businesses and break cycles of poverty.
“We built schools in rural villages, helping to educate communities and sponsor children through further education, we funded medical clinics, and gave villages access to clean water, heath care and housing.
“We partnered with local leaders and churches to support long term solutions to poverty instead of short term fixes.
“I would spend around three weeks a year abroad, mostly in Sri Lanka and India, but also in Nigeria, and Uganda, also Mongolia, Russia, and Guatemala, and we looked after a children’s home in Albania.”
Much of the charity’s early work was in Sri Lanka and India, but later expanded into many other countries
“I’m proud of how many we have helped”
In 2011, to reflect a growing international focus, the charity changed its name to Karuna Action, the Sanskrit word karuna meaning ‘compassion in action’, which captured the aims of the charity in moving beyond words to make a real difference to people’s lives.
Unlike many large aid agencies, Karuna Action chose to remain small, ensuring that funds went directly to meaningful projects and that each initiative was built on trust and long term commitment.
George added:
“Up until a few years ago I was still doing the accounts for them, and I didn’t really retire until earlier this year – their overseas work is a bit less than it used to be, but they still turn over around £400,000 a year.
“I am really proud of what the charity has achieved and how many people it has helped. Now we want some time to ourselves, so we treated ourselves to a break at The Priory. We have seen most of our family, now we’re going to relax!”
George and Christine Dowdell with the first of their three children
Donated a kidney to save a life
Christine, who accompanied George on several of the charity’s missions, including visits to Sri Lanka, India and Guatemala, and back home, her own commitment to helping others led to one of the most extraordinary decisions of her life.
Around ten years ago, she donated a kidney to a fellow church member at Kings Church in Aldershot when he fell gravely ill.
Christine Dowdell said:
“It just felt like the right thing to do. I have prayed in the past for people who were not well, but on this occasion I felt I could do a bit more.
“George and I both felt the same way, he was totally supportive of me. The operation was a complete success and I still hear from the gentleman occasionally, he is well and came to see us a little while ago.
“We are glad to have reached our diamond anniversary, and happy that we have been able to make a real difference to people’s lives over the years.”
The Dowdells chose to take a restful break at The Priory Hotel in Wareham for their diamond wedding anniversary
Further information
- Find out more about the charity George and Christine founded on its website
