UNISON member Beverley Bell overcame racism to get her degree. Now she’s determined to help others get a good education.

Beverley grew up in the kind of place most of us dream of visiting. St Ann’s Bay in Jamaica is where British tourists travel long-haul for a once in a life time holiday.

UNISON member Beverley, who now lives in Bradford, spent her entire childhood there. It might not have been a perfect life – Beverley’s parents left her with her maternal grandparents, after they made the difficult decision to work in the UK in order to provide their children with more opportunities. Nevertheless, she was surrounded by a close-knit family who loved her, unspoilt tropical countryside and a dynamic culture.

Beverley said:

I was brought up on a farm. When the birds used to fall out of the trees, especially baby birds, I used to tend to them and keep them in the chicken coop until they got better.”

Recently I was thinking about how I wanted to become a vet. Sometimes you have to make a side turn in terms of what you want to do in life but it’s about not giving up and following your heart.”

Beverley, 58, has never backed down, even when she faced the most disheartening experiences. Nor has she ever given up on her calling to help others.

Sadly, Beverley’s grandparents passed away and she made the move from Jamaica to Bradford when she was 14. Despite the obvious delight at being reunited with a family she knew primarily through photographs, including British-born siblings she’d never met, moving to a foreign land brought its own set of problems.

The biggest challenge was school.

When Beverley began school in Bradford in 1973, her deputy-headmaster was incapable of believing that she was a good student.

In fact, although Beverley’s curriculum in Jamaica was more advanced than her new school’s, the deputy-head insisted she was moved out of English lessons – against the advice of her teachers – and into a class with children who were just beginning to learn the language.

Beverley said:

It was pure and simple institutional racism. I was already repeating stuff I’d learned in Jamaica in the normal English class. I was moved from there into remedial lessons, even though I wrote well and was able to speak the language.”

It was awful and very frustrating. My dad tried to explain I could speak English and there were three of four tutors who knew I was good at my studies and they fought for me, but it was to no avail. “I made a promise to myself then that I was going to get a degree.”

Further obstacles faced Beverley when she wanted to move into sixth form. Again the leadership of the school stood in her way, by trying to keep her down a year, so she left to find work.

After eight years as an auxiliary nurse, Beverley took a foundation diploma at Bradford College and went on to graduate with a youth and community work degree at Lancaster University.

Beverley said:

I was elated when I graduated and I was proud that I kept my promise.”

Since then Beverley has worked and volunteered in the social care sector. She joined her current employer Creative Support in 2008 – the same time as she joined UNISON – as a support worker for adults with complex needs in assisted housing around West Yorkshire.

As with many public service jobs, the work is under-funded, underappreciated and comes with risks. After being attacked by a service user and suffering a hairline fracture to her skull, Beverley said UNISON made sure her employer was held to account.

Beverley said:

There was nothing in his file to say he could get physical, but we found out later on that someone else had also been attacked.

The union was very thorough and I had a really good representative.” Recently, Beverley has taken the union’s Return to Learn course and has also trained to be a mentor. She plans to use her new mentoring skills to help young people at schools and colleges.

Beverley explained:

Considering what I’ve been through I would like to help young people up the ladder. I want to help them do something with their lives that’s constructive. I want to encourage them to do what they really want to do and just go for it.”

Despite an established life and career in Yorkshire and the expanse of the Atlantic, Beverley’s Jamaican roots have never dissipated. In 1999 she returned to the island for the first time since she left as a girl.

Beverley said:

It was lovely. The family home wasn’t quite the same but they still grew their own vegetables and the open space was the same. I find Kingston very hot but it’s cooler in the country and in St Ann’s."

There’s a group of us going next year for a family reunion and I’m really looking forward to it. We’ll get together again and be as a family.”

In the future Beverley plans to take a creative writing course. With perspectives shaped by both the UK and Jamaica and such an interesting family history, her work should make for compelling reading.

This story originally appeared in UNISON Active! And was written by Ryan Fletcher. You can check out the magazine here.