We like to showcase our colleagues and their stories as often as we can and to mark Black History Month, we wanted to share this story from Fallon Scott (pictured below) who is based in our 111 Advice Centre in Oldbury.
Fallon is one of our Health Advisors and when we posted something about Windrush Day on 22nd June, she told us about her grandfather. He was part of the Windrush Generation and her Uncle Melvin (pictured above) became a victim of the citizenship scandal a few years ago, we wanted to know more.
We spoke to Fallon about her family and she told us about their background and experiences over the years…
“I didn’t really know my Grandfather too well, by the time I was old enough to really remember him he was in the latter stages of Dementia and couldn’t really remember his first few years in England. His name was Vernon Collins and he was asked to come here as a Civil Engineer in the early 60s from Jamaica.
“He came here on his own with nothing but his expertise, he was maybe in his late 50s. He left his family in Jamaica and once he was settled, he sent for my Gran, my Mum and two Uncles to begin a new life here which, from what I can understand, was a happy one. He was a quiet man, had lots of gravitas, dignified and worked very hard to provide a good life here.
“Proud of my Jamaican Heritage”
“As a family we consider ourselves very lucky. Thanks to my Grandfather’s struggles we were brought up in a good neighbourhood but I know that a lot of people who fell on hard times, experienced prejudice and as a result weren’t able to take or weren’t offered the opportunities my Grandfather had. My Mum speaks about him with affection and I’m proud of my Jamaican heritage, in fact I used to go and visit quite often with my family, not so much over the past ten years or so.
“That brings me to my Uncle Melvin who frequently went to Jamaica to visit family. In 2019 he was told that he didn’t meet the criteria and was refused entry back into the UK. Despite living and working here since his early teens, he’d worked for the local council and in the town hall at Walsall, but was told that because of his age, he hadn’t been ‘naturalised’ as they put it. We couldn’t believe it, for some reason my mum and other uncle had their papers, but Uncle Melvin didn’t so he was forced to stay in Jamaica.
“We had to fight to get the permission for him to come back to what he regarded as home, but it took 18 months. He received an apology and compensation, but it affected us, we couldn’t believe that after all of these years, our history here, what my Grandfather gave up to come here, that they effectively told my Uncle Melvin that this wasn’t his home. It was a shock to him as well but at least he was able to stay with family in Jamaica, others caught up in this situation didn’t.
“England is my home…”
“I can’t speak for my uncle about how it affected him, but he does spend more time in Jamaica now than he used to. He’s very much like what I imagine my Grandfather was like, quiet and proud, so it was upsetting that the place he called ‘home’ wasn’t, simply because he didn’t have the papers to prove it, despite his life, his employment history, family and all that.
“For me, England is my home, physically and culturally and I’ve got a good job that I enjoy here at DHU with 111. I started in April and it combines two of the things I enjoy doing…talking to people and helping people. I get to do both! But I know my own history and Jamaica is a home in my heart. I’ve heard stories from my Mum from Jamaica about school life there and how they used to pick up crabs on the way home, our family, how my Grandfather met my Gran and how their life moved to here. It’s important to know your personal history because it’s a part of you and they get passed through the generations in stories.
“It’s easy to look back and see how people have fallen on hard times and it’s a variety of things including your race, gender, where you grew up, other people’s perception of you. I try not to focus on that or let it affect me. Instead I focus on me, my family and where we are now, but you always need to know where you came from and my Grandfather and Uncle’s stories will always be a part of that.”
