I came to the UK from the Yemen with my mother and eldest sister to join my father. He had been here since 1972 working in the steel industry with his father and uncles who had arrived 10 years earlier. I’m now a solicitor and community activist, working in the voluntary and community sector campaigning for the needs of disadvantaged areas and advocating for the rights of the most vulnerable in society. As a result of this work I was selected as an Olympic torchbearer and nominated for a Woman of the Year award.

I also manage the Fir Vale Centre which runs a number of community activities such as adult learning, provisions for young people excluded from school and childcare. We are also set to establish a healthy living centre which will consist of gym facilities and a community café. The Fir Vale Centre used to be my secondary school (Earl Marshal School). I spent many a day outside the headteacher’s office for all the wrong reasons. And now the headteacher’s office is my office.

Fir Vale Centre