Sunita Singal

Our journey of Inspiration and Aspiration by the Family of Arvindbhai and Sudhaben Brahmbhatt

On a cold February morning in 1973 we arrived in Hemel Hempstead after spending three months in Greenham Common Resettlement Camp. We were allocated a house and can recall vividly walking into our new home in the UK at 32 Wharfedale, Highfield. We were so excited and ran all-round the house saying loudly to our parents that we now had a HOME!. A lady from the Salvation Army was in the house putting up curtains and she welcomed us. In the kitchen there was a large food box with biscuits, tins, tea and other essential provisions which had arrived from Hemel Hempstead Lions Club. In the evening we were invited for dinner by another Ugandan family who had not long arrived in Hemel Hempstead. That first night all five of us, mum, dad and the three sisters, slept in the same room as none of us wanted to be far from our parents. The next day the whole machinery of getting us settled into school and for my parents to find a job started. Suhas and I were enrolled at Grovehill Secondary school, a large comprehensive with 1800 children. The school had only three other Indian children the rest being white. Our earliest memories are of constantly trying to keep away from the rest of the class at breaks and lunch times due to daily racism, constant name calling, and the physical and verbal abuse we faced, It is an experience that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. It was hard to understand how colour seem to suddenly define us. The teachers apart from the very few had little or no aspirations for us. We were put in the bottom ranking for all the subjects with kids who really did not want to be there. We clearly can recall racism and the unfair treatment we endured by some of the teachers including a PE teacher who made us play Hockey in the playground barefoot in February as our parents hadn’t had the opportunity to go to the shops to buy the appropriate PE clothing. Our youngest sister Dharini was enrolled into a primary school not far from our house. This was a tough time for all of us. Dealing with racism, a new environment, trying to make new friends as well as adjusting to a whole new life was really hard and difficult.

Faced Racism

Our father a qualified industrial Chemist, secured a job with the Department of Social Security initially and then as a Laboratory Chemist till he retired. Our mum who had never worked in her life, had to change her attire from a Sari into trousers and went to work at Multicore Solders in the Industrial Estate. Both facing daily degradation and racism in the workplace. But they never complained and showed incredible bravery and resilience. To save money they would both walk from Highfield to the Industrial Estate and back every day. This was difficult, as they had never lived through a winter before. Life was hard my sister and I suddenly found that our parents were not there when we got back from school and our youngest sister who was seven at the time went to a neighbour to be looked after. We had left Uganda with a sum of £6 in our pockets and hardly any belongings and there was no spare cash for luxuries or holidays. During the 70s the National Front were everywhere posting anti-immigration rhetoric and generally intimidating us outside the school and when we went to the town centre. Despite the backdrop of all these difficulties our parents constantly instilled in us a desire to achieve our aspirations and become successful young women. There was little in the way of guidance or support from school. Our parents worked hard and long hours often mum taking on two jobs in a day to make ends meet, save money to enable us to afford some luxury. Throughout our lives, our parents have been great advocates of voluntary work, helping the community and we believe that seeing them do this throughout their lives instilled in us the passion to get involved and support disadvantaged communities.

Queen’s Award

For me, Sunita, this passion of fairness and supporting others who are disadvantaged stayed with me throughout my working life in the Civil Service. In 2018 I led and developed a Mentoring Scheme bringing together ethnic minority young unemployed people and FTSE 100 companies. The programme I developed brought senior mentors from the FTSE 100 companies offering support and inspiring young people through creating opportunities and offering mentoring and sponsorship. The programme was the first to be delivered across the Civil Service and I was extremely proud to see it being launched as a National programme for all young unemployed people. In the 2021 Queens New Year’s Honours I was awarded a MBE for the work I had led on diversity and inclusion in the Civil Service.

Third Generation

My two sons, a third generation, Sohail who is a Banker and Anish who is a Doctor in the NHS