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FACES OF NHS LONDON

To mark Black History Month, the NHS in London has revealed 36 prominent
individuals it has chosen to be ‘the faces’ of the NHS Trusts in the capital.
Read their stories by clicking the pins on the interactive map below.
Alternatively, scroll down to read the stories and celebrate the amazing
contributions made by each highlighted individual.

There are so many amazing stories to tell. If you would like to read more
stories or to tell your own, please visit our online gallery.






FACES OF NHS LONDON

To mark Black History Month, the NHS in London has revealed 36 prominent
individuals it has chosen to be ‘the faces’ of the NHS Trusts in the capital.
Read their stories by clicking the pins on the interactive map above.
Alternatively, scroll down to read the stories and celebrate the amazing
contributions made by each highlighted individual.

There are so many amazing stories to tell. If you would like to read more
stories or to tell your own, please visit our online gallery.



ADE ODUNLADE - CENTRAL & NORTH WEST LONDON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Ade Odunlade is a qualified Health Care Leader with a wealth of clinical and
operational management experience gained from working in a variety of senior
positions over the last 25 years within the public and private sector.



He is highly motivated to deliver clear outcomes and results for patients and
staff.  Ade has a wealth of knowledge and a demonstrable track record of
delivering outcomes for the Trust.

Ade has an underlying philosophy of helping individuals to achieve and deliver
high standard of work. He has a sense of responsibility in ensuring and
safeguarding high standards by holding people to account and enabling staff to
focus on patients’ needs with compassion and care.

As a mentor, Ade asks his mentees not to be passive receivers but active
participants. He also encourages staff to honour commitments, expect support but
don’t expect miracles without hard work, communicate clearly, assume
responsibility for own development, be teachable, and to listen to what is being
said and not said, especially how it is being said.

DR. AGATHA NORTLEY-MESHE - LONDON AMBULANCE SERVICE NHS TRUST

Dr Agatha Nortley-Meshe is a practising GP in South London and is also an
Assistant Medical Director for the London Ambulance Service (LAS) where she
leads on integrated urgent care. Agatha is an inspirational leader at the LAS
and, in her role as Head of Integrated Urgent Care (clinical), she provides
strategic clinical leadership for the Trust’s NHS111 services, which cover 40%
of London.



Agatha chairs the LAS’s Black and Minority (BME) Ethnic Network and is the
Trust’s clinical lead for the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES). She also
sits on the national ambulance BME forum. In 2018 she completed the NHS WRES
Expert programme as part of cohort 1, and has used this experience to champion
the BME agenda within LAS, making a real difference to the working lives of BME
staff and volunteers. Agatha is passionate about supporting others to develop
confidence and leadership skills. From her own experience, she is very much
aware of the inequalities facing people from BME backgrounds in terms of career
progression. She says:

> “Although society has come a long way, people from BME backgrounds still have
> to work that bit harder to move up the career ladder: you can’t be average,
> you have to excel”.

She is keen to support others to do just that and says:

> “It’s a case of putting yourself out there, constantly developing your skills
> and making the connections you need in order to move forward”.

She is a role model to colleagues of BME backgrounds, saying:

> “Where people can see someone who looks like them in a senior position it
> reinforces the idea that they can achieve their own aspirations. As leaders
> from BME backgrounds, we have to be visible, approachable, provide support and
> open doors for others to develop and excel”.

Agatha is a trained mentor, and over the years has provided informal coaching
and mentoring to support personal and career development for healthcare
colleagues. This includes providing mentoring to women from several different
countries via the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.

AKALA - ROYAL FREE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Akala is an award-winning hip-hop artist, author, journalist and activist on
equality.

He founded The Hip Hop Shakespeare Company; a music theatre production company
aimed at exploring the social, cultural and linguistic parallels between the
works of Shakespeare and that of modern-day hip-hop artists. Alongside the
patronage of Ian Mckellen, the organisation has collaborated with the likes of
Ed Sheeran, Kate Tempest and George the Poet to bring bespoke educational and
social entrepreneurship development programmes to young people.

He has spoken at length on policing and the profiling of black communities, and
has led the debate on decolonising the curriculum in British schools and
universities.

His book, Natives, has been a great success and sold more than 100,000 and
received excellent reviews.

AMANI SIMPSON - NORTH MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL NHS TRUST

Amani Simpson is an award-winning film maker, social entrepreneur, youth leader
and role model.



He is also a stab victim, and has used his personal experiences and story, told
skilfully through awe-inspiring poetry and film, to develop a powerful programme
of public health intervention targeting youth-on-youth violence and knife crime.

Born at North Mid Hospital in 1990, and having grown up in Winchmore Hill and
Enfield, at the age of 21, Amani was stabbed seven times while intervening in an
attempted robbery.

Describing the night he got stabbed, Amani recalled that while being rushed by
ambulance for major trauma surgery:

> “I had this kind of very surreal conversation with God and I said that if I
> had another chance to live my life, I would use it steer young people away
> from the negative.”

‘Amani’ – partly filmed at North Mid in August 2018, and featuring at least
three North Mid staff among its actors – was launched online in early 2019,
racking up 2 million views in just four days. The powerful short has formed a
central part of Amani’s working touring schools, colleges, community groups and
advocacy with community leaders.

Amani was recently shortlisted out of 28,000 as Positive Role Model at the 2019
National Diversity Awards, and is an ambassador for the Mayor of London’s London
Needs You Alive campaign.

ANGELA SIMIYU - BARKING, HAVERING AND REDBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST

Angela Simiyu, a nurse at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals
NHS Trust, is one of the Rising Stars, recognised by the Royal College of
Nursing to mark Black History Month.



The 30-year-old, who grew up in Kenya, was shocked and excited when she found
out she’d been nominated by Kay O’Reilly, the Trust’s lead nurse for respiratory
conditions. She said:

> “What an honour to represent my Trust this Black History Month. Not only being
> nominated, but winning, has made me feel elated and highly valued. I love
> everything about nursing. It’s the only thing I know so I am hugely passionate
> about it.”

Angela was nominated for her hard work during the Covid-19 pandemic. On one
nightshift, she took over running the team on her ward, teaching others how to
use new machinery, while keeping patients safe. Being based in a respiratory
ward meant Angela has been caring for Covid-19 patients throughout.

As the only nurse in her family, Angela’s caring nature meant she always knew it
was what she wanted to do. Having qualified at the Nairobi Hospital, she worked
on an endoscopy unit there for two years before her father encouraged her to
further her career and experience by moving to the UK.

She’s worked at the Trust, her first experience of the NHS, for the last three
years. Although she’s spoken English all her life, Angela still had some
language issues when she began nursing in the UK, and fondly remembers how her
patients helped her. She said:

> “I got confused by ‘tea’ as dinner or an afternoon snack, and a cup of tea.
> Luckily one of my patients helped me by explaining to ask if they wanted a
> ‘cup of tea’!”

ANNA MBACHU - BARNET, ENFIELD & HARINGEY MENTAL HEALTH NHS TRUST

As well as her NHS role, Anna is also a local authority Councillor; she is very
passionate about humanity and treats everyone with respect and dignity.



She supports people with severe and enduring mental health problems during their
journey towards recovery. In this process Anna acts as an advocate especially
for service users who are struggling to secure the appropriate accommodation
necessary for their recovery. Anna works in collaboration with other health care
professionals, local authorities, carers and other agencies to ensure that
service users’ identified needs relating to accommodation are sorted out prior
to discharge.

Anna’s non-judgemental approach has always given motivation to the less
privileged especially those from ethnic minorities. She has always stood firm
for justice and always given people confidence that those from ethnic minorities
are equally represented in decision-making within the Trust and in the wider
community. Anna is an exemplary professional who encourages other black women to
explore their potential irrespective of whatever situation they find themselves.
She is outspoken, tolerant, accommodating, assertive and a good listener –
truly, a woman of substance.

ANNICK FOTSO - MOORFIELDS EYE HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST



CARMEN BROOKS-JOHNSON - ST. GEORGE'S UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Carmen Brooks-Johnson, a retired St George’s midwife, was a much-loved and
respected member of staff – so much so, that their birth centre is named after
her – the Carmen Suite. Carmen was born in Jamaica and came to England in 1961
to train as a nurse. A few years after qualifying, she decided to train as a
midwife. She started working at St George’s in 1979 as a Senior Sister in the
new delivery suite on Lanesborough wing.



She became a supervisor of midwives in 1991, later becoming an advanced
midwifery practitioner in the community, and working in a team integrating
hospital and community in 1997. Following retirement from the midwifery service,
Carmen worked in the Trust’s occupational health team on the staff bank for two
years.

LORD DAVID PITT - UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Medic, political pioneer and labour peer for Hamstead. The late Lord David Pitt
of Hampstead was the longest serving black Parliamentarian, having been granted
a life peerage in 1975.



He spent his life speaking out for the underrepresented black community in Great
Britain. Born on the island of Grenada in the West Indies, in 1932 he won
Grenada’s only overseas scholarship to attend the prestigious medical school at
the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

In 1947, Pitt decided to set up a medical practice in London, a year before the
NHS was born. In the 1950s, Pitt was one of the few black people active in
defending the growing black population of Great Britain against discrimination
and prejudice. In the 1960s and 1970s, he organised to help immigrants and
improve race relations. Pitt became the first and only chair of the Campaign
Against Racial Discrimination (CARD), an association founded with the
encouragement of Martin Luther King Jr.

Pitt believed in fighting racism within the existing power structure. In 1959,
Pitt sought to represent London’s wealthy Hampstead district in Parliament,
becoming the first West Indian black person to seek a seat in Parliament. After
a campaign plagued by racist insinuations, Pitt lost the election. In 1961,
however, Pitt won election representing the ethnically mixed, working-class
Hackney district in London’s city government, the London County Council (LCC).

In 1964 this body was absorbed by the Greater London Council (GLC). He served as
deputy chair of the GLC from 1969 to 1970 and in 1974 became the first black
chair, a post he held until 1975. Pitt paved the way for the multiracial
politics for which the GLC became known. In 1970 Pitt ran for Parliament again,
this time as a candidate in London’s Clapham district, a secure Labour seat that
many believed he would win. He lost by an unusually large margin; race
undoubtedly played a large role in his defeat. He was bitterly disappointed and
did not attempt to run for Parliament again. In 1975 Prime Minister Harold
Wilson appointed Pitt to the House of Lords as Lord Pitt of Hampstead. According
to Pitt himself, however, his most valued honour was his election as president
of the British Medical Association from 1985 to 1986, a position few general
practitioners achieve.

After his death, many lamented that Pitt “should have been the first Labour
Member of Parliament.”

DOREEN LAWRENCE - LEWISHAM AND GREENWICH NHS TRUST

Doreen Lawrence is an anti-racist campaigner who seeks justice for her murdered
son Stephen Lawrence, who died in 1993.



Doreen was born in Jamaica and emigrated to the UK with her family in the 1960s
when she was nine years old. She completed her schooling in and around Greenwich
and worked in a bank for seven years before having her first child, Stephen, in
1974.

By 1993, after having two further children, Stuart and Georgina, she was living
in Plumstead and enrolled on a counselling course at the University of
Greenwich. It was also 1993 when her son Stephen was stabbed to death in a
racially motivated attack in Eltham. Doreen’s history from then is defined by
her love for Stephen, her moral clarity and her instinct to fight for justice to
ensure her son did not die in vain. She set up the Stephen Lawrence Family
Campaign and persevered through many obstacles to push for an inquiry into her
son’s murder.

The damning enquiry touched on major issues with policing and the justice system
with regards to black people. Many reforms, based directly on this
investigation, have since been introduced and Doreen has emerged as one of the
country’s leading voices on black injustice. She founded the Stephen Lawrence
Charitable Trust to continue to provide support to black communities across the
capital and the country.

Doreen has received many deserved accolades and distinctions for her work on
racial justice, including an OBE and a peerage at the House of Lords. In her
community, she will always be remembered as a loving mother whose grief and love
for her family changed the course of the nation’s history for the better.

EDDIE NESTOR - EAST LONDON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Eddie Nestor, is a British actor, stand-up comedian, TV and radio presenter, who
is best known for his starring roles in The Real McCoy and Desmond’s, as well as
appearing in Trainspotting.

He hosted, alongside Robbie Gee, the Imperial College Indian Society’s annual
“East Meets West” charity show in 2007 and 2008. The show in both years was one
of the most successful and popular charity shows in the UK, drawing over 1,750
people to the prestigious London Palladium in 2008. He appeared in the BBC’s
Canterbury Tales and is a former Casualty star. He currently presents BBC London
94.9 FM’s show Drivetime from 4pm to 7pm on weekday evenings, replacing Henry
Bonsu who left to pursue other broadcasting opportunities. He was voted “The
Speech Broadcaster of the Year” at the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2007.

In February 2007, Eddie was diagnosed as having Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and kept a
blog of his treatment and reactions. He is currently in remission.

FOLUKE OYINLOLA - NORTH EAST LONDON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Foluke grew up in the city of Ibadan, Nigeria. She joined NEL in January 2019 as
an Information Governance Subject Matter Expert Manager. She brought a wealth of
data protection knowledge to the team, and actively impacts on new and exciting
projects taking place within the NHS. She is a good team player and is always
willing to help and lend a listening ear. Following the killing of George Floyd
and the publication of the PHE racial disparity report, she recently delivered a
workshop on ‘Unconscious Bias from Awareness to Action’.



Team members found the workshop to be really useful as it strengthened the teams
understanding of how their actions impact others.

Her colleagues describe her as very approachable, warm and kind, always offering
support, displaying great leadership qualities by being instrumental in
promoting equality and diversity within the team. Foluke has a high emotional
intelligence and will call to check if team members are ok when they seem to be
stressed. She also supports colleagues with caring and patience. In addition,
Foluke encourages team members with personal study, offering her support for
free to allow equal access to educational opportunities for those who cannot
afford expensive training courses.

Outside of work, Foluke has been involved in many community activities. For
example, she ran a Saturday school (Rhema Learning Zone) which provided free and
supplementary education for children (aged 4-16 years old) from all over London.
She also organised summer schools, weekends and family day trips to encourage
and reward the children for their hard work. More recently, Foluke has written
and directed three plays as well as successfully organised summer and Christmas
concerts at her local church. She has also worked to increase the confidence of
children at her church by involving them in performing arts.

Foluke is one of the many amazing Black colleagues that we have in NEL. We are
proud of our diverse workforce who constantly strive to deliver improved health
services to local populations.

DR. HAROLD A MOODY - KING'S COLLEGE HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Dr. Harold Moody was born in Kingston, Jamaica on the 8th October 1882. Moody
moved to London in 1904 to study medicine at King’s College Hospital and
qualified as a doctor in 1910. However due to racial prejudice, he was unable to
work at the hospital despite graduating at the top of his class.



This experience led Moody to set up his own GP practice in Peckham, south east
London in 1913. Moody offered his services to poor families for free and also
opened up his home to ‘travelling black people who couldn’t find a room or a
meal elsewhere’. The racial prejudice Moody faced in London motivated him to
campaign for the rights of black people.

In 1931, he founded the League of Coloured Peoples, a pressure group which
lobbied trade unions, the Civil Service and Parliament for the improvement of
race relations. Moody fought for causes including employment rights for black
merchant seamen, fair pay for Trinidadian oil workers and the lifting of the
colour bar in the British Armed Forces that had prevented the appointment of
black officers.

Dr Harold Moody died on 24 April 1947, shortly after returning to England from
the West Indies. His campaigning is credited as being key to the passing of the
Race Relations Act in 1965.

HARRY AIKINES-ARYEETEY - EPSOM & ST HELIER UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey is a sprinter from Carshalton, and is the first athlete
to win gold medals in 100 and 200 metres at the World Youth Championships.



He was named the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2005 and has since
raced at the Commonwealth Games, the Olympic Games, the British Athletics
Championships, the European Athletics Championships, the World Indoor Athletics
Championships, the European Indoor Athletics Championships, and the World
Athletics Championships. He won the 100 metres event at the 2020 British
Athletics Championships this year.

JOHN ALCINDOR - IMPERIAL COLLEGE HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST

Dr. John Alcindor 1873-1924 (died at St Mary’s Hospital). Born in Trinidad, he
came to the UK after winning a medical scholarship to attend Edinburgh
University. On graduating in 1899, he went on to work in several London
hospitals before establishing his own general practice in Paddington 1907. Dr
Alcindor was a black equal rights activist and did much for the cause during his
time in the African Progress Union and was one of those behind the first
Pan-African Conference in 1900 in London. He also carried out research and
published articles on cancer, influenza and tuberculosis and worked to prevent
syphilis and tuberculosis in Great Britain.



His research set the groundwork for the correlation between poverty, low quality
food and unbalanced diets in poor health. In 1914, John was rejected in his
attempt to join the First World War effort by the Royal Army Medical Corps,
despite their desperate need for good doctors. Instead, he joined the British
Red Cross as a volunteer and helped wounded soldiers at London railway stations
on their return from the front line. He was later awarded a Red Cross medal for
his life-saving work. In 2014, a blue-plaque was placed on the site of his
Paddington practice.

JOHN BOYEGA - ROYAL BROMPTON & HAREFIELD NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

John Boyega is a British Actor who rose to stardom as a lead in the Star Wars
sequel trilogy. Born and raised in Peckham, London, Boyega started acting in
local productions at an early age, before studying at Hackney’s Identity School
of Acting and taking on his first movie and TV roles.



In 2011 he received glowing reviews for his role in Sci-Fi comedy Attack the
Block, before starring alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton in Half of
a Yellow Sun, and headlining Imperial Dreams in 2014. After that, Boyega’s
career hit the stratosphere when he took on the role of Finn in the
highly-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which became one of the
highest-grossing blockbusters in movie history. After Star Wars, Boyega starred
alongside Emma Watson and Tom Hanks in indie Sci-Fi The Circle, and in
Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit, a hard-hitting drama about the
1967 Detroit Riots.

In 2016, John Boyega received a BAFTA in the Rising Star category, along with
Best Male Newcomer at the Empire Awards, and Male Revelation at Cannes Film
Festival.

Boyega, who was born in London to parents of Nigerian descent, was praised for
his impassionate speech at London’s Black Lives Matter rally on 3 June,
following the killing of George Floyd. Despite acknowledging his words could
have a detrimental impact on his career, Boyega continues to voice injustices
and racism within society and commercial industries.

JOHN OKE - CAMDEN AND ISLINGTON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

John Oke died in October 2019 having lived in Kentish Town (near the hospital),
and having founded the Camden Black Parents and Teachers Association (CBPTA) and
the Odu Dua Housing Association. Born in Nigeria, he arrived in Britain as a
teenager and trained as civil engineer before returning to Nigeria. He then
returned to the UK in the 1970s and settled in Kentish Town for forty years. He
identified that too many black children were leaving school without
qualifications and in 1980 set up the CBPTA.

In 1986, he set up the Odu Dia Housing Association to support homeless black men
in Camden, before widening the remit to support the homeless in Camden, Barnet
and Brent. He was also a parent governor at Acland Burghley School and a
governor at Edith Neville and St Michael’s CoE primary schools.

JOSEPHINE JIM - GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Josephine Jim is a paediatric nurse who has been working on the paediatric
intensive care unit (PICU) for 10 years at Great Ormond Street Hospital for
Children NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH).

Several years ago, Josephine won the Marie Curie Nurse of the Year Award. Her
key responsibilities as a PICU nurse include looking after critically ill
patients who may have life threatening or life-limiting conditions. She
developed a special interest in haemodialysis which has led to her being the
lead in this service for about 12 years.

Josephine co-authored the haemodialysis guidelines for ITU nurses and doctors at
GOSH as well as the GOSH manual of nursing practices. She has also had the
opportunity to act as an ambassador for the department and specialty, showcasing
their world class achievements within this service by presenting at conferences
in Australia and the United States of America. As a BAME sister in a leadership
position she provides professional advice and support to BAME staff within her
unit and strives to be a good role model to them.

The pandemic changed the way Josephine views herself, and her role. She is more
determined to advocate for patients and make a difference for the BAME
population too.

DR. JULIE-ANNE DOWIE - ROYAL NATIONAL ORTHOPAEDIC HOSPITAL NHS TRUST

Julie-Anne was put forward by the Trust’s Equality Network as she is seen as an
inspirational leader within the Trust. Compassionate and supportive, she also
challenges and sets high standards and influences all professional groups in the
Trust, not just the nursing workforce that she leads.

She has acted as a mentor to many staff encouraging others to follow in her
footsteps. Julie-Anne has been a nurse for 35 years, commencing her nursing
career as an Enrolled Nurse, she successfully converted to a Registered General
Nurse and eventually gained a qualification as a Registered Sick Children’s
Nurse. Julie-Anne went into nursing to care for people and feels it is an honour
to be allowed to care for patients and their families at their most vulnerable
time. She has had many proud moments in her career, amongst those was achieving
a Doctorate in Leadership & Management, which she completed alongside her
demanding career.

KEN WAKATAMA - WEST LONDON NHS TRUST

Ken Wakatama has been a qualified Mental Health Nurse (RMN) since April 1994. He
has had a full, varied, enriched and extremely enjoyable career so far, with
many challenges and opportunities arising.

Ken initially worked for the Barnet Health authority as a staff nurse for 2
years in the paediatric intensive care unit service. In 1996, he took up
employment with the West London NHS Trust as a Staff Nurse working primarily in
the HDU and Intensive Care Service.

He feels privileged to have worked across all the clinical settings in Mental
Health Services, including in the high secure setting of Broadmoor Hospital. Ken
has worked as a team leader, Clinical Nurse Manager, Acting Senior Clinical
Manager and regularly provides cover in the capacity of Site Manager.

Ken has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the management and care of a
complex group of patients with extensive mental health difficulties. Always
looking to develop further, Ken gained a B.Sc. for violence reduction and has
represented the Trust in various conferences.

KOFOWOROLA ABENI PRATT - GUY'S & ST THOMAS' NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Kofoworola Pratt was the first qualified black nurse to work in the NHS, and was
a pioneer of modern nursing in Nigeria. Born in Lagos in 1915, she came to the
UK and was the first black student to attend the Nightingale Training School for
Nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital. Kofoworola qualified as a state registered nurse
in 1950, was a staff nurse at Evelina London Children’s Hospital in 1952, then a
charge nurse at St Thomas’ Hospital the following year.



She returned to Nigeria in 1954, and following the country’s independence,
Kofoworola set up a nursing school which was the basis for modern nursing
practices in the country. Among her many posts, she became Chief Nursing Officer
for Nigeria in 1965 and was the first black woman to be named Vice-President of
the International Council of Nurses.

In 1973, Kofoworola was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest
international merit for a nurse.

LEROY LOGAN - HOMERTON UNIVERSITY NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Leroy Logan has been the chair of the Black Police Association and, in this
capacity, was involved in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and the Victoria Climbie
Inquiry. He took a lead role in the Damilola Taylor investigation and, as a
result, put forward the business case for affinity-based policing, which
recognises the importance of the life skills of police officers and demonstrates
the advantages of diversity in active policing. This led to the establishment of
the award-winning Cultural and Communities Resource Unit at the Met.



As a member of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games’ Policing
Co-ordination Team, he was involved in the planning for a safe and secure event.
In 2000 he received an MBE for his contribution to policing.

Leroy is also very active in the community and in the advancement of race and
equality issues. He is behind numerous award-winning programmes, including the
thriving young peoples’ forum Young Black Positive Advocates (YBPA) and the
Young Leaders for a Safer City, which are made up of graduates from the
Leadership Programme launched in 2001.

MARTIN GRIFFITHS - BARTS HEALTH NHS TRUST

Martin has been recognised for his pioneering ward-based violence reduction
service which he and fellow colleagues set up after operating on young knife
victims admitted in their school uniforms. This award-winning scheme sees
hospital staff and case workers at charity St Giles Trust helping young patients
injured through gang crime while they are still being treated in the hospital to
help break the cycle of violence at the point of crisis. In six years, this has
reduced the number of young people returning to The Royal London Hospital with
further injuries from 45% to less than 1%.



Last year Martin was appointed NHS England’s first clinical director for
violence reduction after spending the last decade saving lives and lecturing
school children on the dangers of carrying weapons to help prevent stabbings and
other violent crimes. He is a top trauma surgeon who saved the life of the first
person stabbed in the London Bridge terror attack and in a huge coincidence, had
also saved the victim’s father’s life when he operated on his heart several
years earlier.

Martin is a passionate campaigner for fairness and equality, and promotes
diverse leadership in private and public services, particularly within the NHS.
In 2018, Martin Griffiths won the Hero Doctor Award at the Daily Mirror NHS
Heroes awards.

MARY MAKARAU - CENTRAL LONDON COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Mary Makarau came to the UK in 1974 eager to pursue
her dream of working in the NHS as a nurse. After working at Edgware General
Hospital and three years of training, she went on to study Midwifery at North
Middlesex Hospital and then moved on to working in Paediatrics at Great Ormond
Street Hospital.



In 1988, Mary pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Public Services Management,
beginning her journey into her current specialism, where she delivers care and
support to people living with and affected by HIV, and teaches them how to
manage their long-term condition effectively, within the community and within
their own homes.

In 1999, Mary embarked on a second degree, Masters in Public Services
Management, part-time, whilst still working in the HIV field.
At Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Mary’s outstanding work
educating and supporting HIV patients, members of the public and her fellow
nursing colleagues has made her a worthy recipient of the Trust’s employee of
the month award and coveted Patient Award at their 2019 Staff Awards.

MARY SEACOLE - WHITTINGTON HEALTH NHS TRUST

Mary Seacole was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1805. She followed in the
footsteps of her Creole mother and became a doctress, nurse and businesswoman.
Loving to travel, she coped single-handedly with a cholera epidemic in the
Panamanian gold-prospecting town of Cruces. The death of a young child touched
her deeply.



> “I sat before the flickering fire, with my last patient in my lap – a poor,
> little, brown-faced orphan, scarce a year old, was dying in my arms, and I was
> powerless to save it. It may seem strange, but it is a fact, that I thought
> more of that little child than I did of the men who were struggling for their
> lives.”

So affected was Mary by this death that she undertook ‘her first and last’
post-mortem examination to try and discover more about the dreaded cholera that
had killed the child. During a dinner in her honour, an American she had nursed
back to health from this deadly disease, made the mistake of including this
statement in his toast to her:

> “I calculate, gentlemen, you’re all as vexed as I am that she’s not wholly
> white; and I guess, if we could bleach her by any means we would and thus make
> her acceptable in any company as she deserves to be. Gentlemen, I give you
> Aunty Seacole!”

Mary was so angry that after a few words of thanks she said:

> “But I must say that I don’t altogether appreciate your friend’s kind wishes
> with respect to my complexion … and as to his offer of bleaching me, I should,
> even if it were practicable, decline it without any thanks. As to the society
> which the process might gain me admission into, all I can say is, that judging
> from the specimens I have met with here and elsewhere, I don’t think that I
> shall lose much by being excluded from it. So, gentlemen, I drink to you and
> the general reformation of American manners.”

Mary Seacole then became famous for nursing British soldiers on the frontline
during the Crimean War. In London she had found it impossible to obtain a post
with the group of nurses planning to join those who had already left to work
under Florence Nightingale. Mary wondered:

> “Was it possible that American prejudices against colour had some root here?
> Did these ladies shrink from accepting my aid because my blood flowed beneath
> a somewhat duskier skin than theirs?”

Mary overcame all the obstacles and raised the funds to pay for her passage to
Turkey. On arrival in the Crimea she set up the British Hotel where she cooked
tasty meals and sold provisions. In additions she nursed the soldiers in the
battlefield and became widely known as ‘Mother Seacole’.

At the end of the Crimean War Mary Seacole returned to London bankrupt.
Fortunately, her many friends rallied to her aid through a series of military
fundraising galas. In 1857 she published her bestselling autobiography,
Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands. After more overseas travels
Mary died in London on the 14th May 1881.

Although the Victorian media had published many articles about her, she was
virtually forgotten after her death. Fortunately, in November 2003 Lord Clive
Soley established the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal. This came about
following several Caribbean women asking that he help ensure a fitting memorial
for Mary. There was a long, but successful, fundraising campaign that lasted
over 12 years. As a result, a beautiful monument was unveiled in the gardens of
London’s St Thomas’ Hospital on the 30th June 2016 by Baroness Floella Benjamin.

NNENNA OSUJI - CROYDON HEALTH SERVICES NHS TRUST

Dr Nnenna Osuji is the Medical Director, Deputy Chief Executive and Caldicott
Guardian at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust. She has been a consultant
haematologist for over a decade. Her clinical and academic career, spanning over
twenty years in the NHS, has provided insight and appreciation for the complex
and challenging nature of healthcare and the many changes that have occurred. At
the heart of her delivery is a genuine love of people, and dedication to
continuously improve and innovate the care delivered to them at individual and
population levels.

OLIVE MORRIS - SOUTH WEST LONDON & ST GEORGE'S MENTAL HEALTH NHS TRUST

Olive Morris was born in Jamaica in 1952 but moved to South London as a child.
She was a political activist in the 1970’s and founded the Brixton Black Women’s
Group and the Organisation of Women of African and Asian descent.



Within the Brixton Black Women’s Group, she and other members rallied to
critically explore the experiences of women in the Black Panther Party. The
overall purpose of the group was to raise consciousness so the women could
communicate with each other and talk about their daily lives, putting this
understanding into a political framework. The Brixton Black Women’s Group pushed
for more transparency and unity in their community. Eventually, the group
dissolved and transformed into numerous specific groups that were focused on
increasing the awareness of the Black struggle.

PATRICIA HUGHES - THE ROYAL MARSDEN NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Patricia started her nursing career on a medical ward, and after a year, worked
on an oncology/ haematology ward which she loved. She worked there for 9 years
and then became a haematology specialist nurseShe moved to London in 2014 to
take up a Head of Nursing role in cancer at St George’s. She did this for a year
then became a Matron at University College London Hospital (UCLH).

Patricia is described as a caring and compassionate leader who has an excellent
vision. Throughout her career shehas helped lots of colleagues to progress.
‘Lift as you climb’ is her philosophy which she achieves by encouraging Black,
Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) nursing staff to apply for opportunities.
Patricia is also passionate about the digital agenda and is an active member of
the Shuri Network, which was developed for women of colour who are interested in
the health tech agenda. As a member, Patricia has contributed to webinars on
behalf of the network. The talks are based on equality, diversity and inclusion.

Some of Patricia’s past accomplishments include being the founding member and
Chair of the UCLH BAME Network for almost 400 members. The BAME network secured
£10,000 of funding from Health Education England for the development of
mentoring for BAME staff. Furthermore, she wrote a successful UCLH charity bid
to fund support roles for the BAME network, the roles also were able to support
the LGBT and women’s network too.

Patricia joined The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust as a Divisional Nurse
Director in February 2020. In this short time, Patricia has already made a
significant impact as a champion for equality and inclusion.

PAUL CANOVILLE - CHELSEA & WESTMINSTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Ex-professional footballer Paul Canoville knew from the age of five he was
destined to be a football player. What Paul did not know when he embarked on his
debut appearance as Chelsea F.C.’s first black football player, was the racist
abuse he would endure from fans from his own club, that continued throughout his
signing there. An incident that many believed was racially charged led Paul to
be transferred to Reading F.C., but his career was blighted by injury and he was
forced to retire in his prime. The callous chain of events caused a down spiral
only to be stricken with Cancer.



It was Paul’s desire to overcome his own battles and help young children that
came from backgrounds similar to his own that inspired him to start the Paul
Canoville Foundation, which aims to engage and motivate young people who may be
facing adversity to deal with the challenges they may face.

Paul also is an avid campaigner and spokesperson against racism and is also the
Ambassador of the ‘Music’ Against Racism’ campaign; an organisation set up in
2020 in response to rising levels of racism. He is also qualified mental health
talking therapy practitioner.

PAULINE BLACK - THE HILLINGDON HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Performer, singer, artist, band leader and songwriter, Pauline Black has
dedicated four decades to the music scene. Supporting and campaigning for racial
equality throughout her work, she describes herself as first and foremost, a
singer.



A lifelong love of music inspired by punk and reggae artists from the 1970s led
Pauline to join The Selecter and a career that has seen her travel across the
world to share her passion and artistry with hundreds of thousands of fans.

The Selecter went on to become a platinum-selling band and one of the most
influential within the 2 Tone music scene. After releasing their first album,
Too Much Pressure, in 1980, the band went on to release 5 top 40 singles in the
UK, and to this day continue to write new music and inspire new audiences. 2019
marked the 40th anniversary of 2 Tone and The Selecter.

SAMANTHA TROSS - LONDON NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST

Miss Samantha Tross is the Lead Orthopaedic Surgeon at Ealing Hospital,
specialising in treating conditions of the hip and knee. She became a Consultant
in 2005 and was the first female of Afro-Caribbean descent in the UK to do so.
In 2018, she scored another first by becoming the first woman in Europe to
perform Mako robotic hip surgery.

Miss Tross was born in Guyana, South America and came to England aged 11. She
graduated from University College London in 1992. Her basic surgical training
was on the Royal London rotation and higher surgical training on Guys & St.
Thomas and King’s College Hospitals rotation. She subsequently undertook
fellowships in Toronto, Canada and Sydney, Australia.

Apart from her clinical work Miss Tross is an Educational Supervisor, Faculty
Group Leader and Director of Core Surgical Training for her hospital, overseeing
the training of junior doctors in her Trust. She is an Associate Editor of the
Journal of Medical Case Reports, Examiner for Imperial Medical School exams and
recipient of a Black British Business STEM Award for her work promoting science
and medical careers to her community. Miss Tross regularly presents at
Orthopaedic conferences and is an Associate Professor in Orthopaedics for the
University of the Caribbean.

Miss Tross has been profiled in an educational series by Verna Wilkins which is
part of the national curriculum for schools. She has been included in the Black
Powerlist of 100 most Influential Black Britons since 2009 and was named in
Tatlers 100 most Influential doctors in the UK in 2013. She has been featured in
the BMJ Careers in 2018 and the Metro and Stylist magazine in 2019. In the same
year, she was awarded the WINTRADE Award for Women in the Public Sector and was
the keynote speaker for the Mayor’s black history month event at City Hall.

SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR - SOUTH LONDON AND MAUDSLEY NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a globally acclaimed composer, referred to as the
African “Mahler”. Samuel was born in Holborn in 1875 and later moved to Croydon.
As well as his musical achievements he was also recognised as a civil rights
leader who fought against race prejudice.

Conscious of his African descent, Taylor’s classical compositions were heavily
influenced by traditional African music and this made him one of the most
progressive writers of his time.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor died of pneumonia on 1 September 1912 in Croydon, at the
age of 37.

SIMEON ATOZA - TAVISTOCK & PORTMAN NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Simeon Atoza was a Course Administrator at Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation
Trust, who sadly died last month. The following is a tribute to Simeon by one of
his colleagues.



It was in January 2018 that I met Simeon Atoza. I remember it well, as I had
just joined The Trust and so had he.

He was the first friend I made here as our joint inductions and meetings led to
discussions outside work, where I found shared interest in Africa, football and
politics. A qualified Maths teacher in his past life, Simeon’s precision showed.
He would often be the first person to get into the DET offices, arriving usually
between 0730 – 0740, impeccably dressed. There were some great moral lessons to
be learnt from this gentle giant of the Course Administration team and we would
listen in thrall, almost transported back to his native Benue state in Nigeria.

Simeon would recount stories from his childhood. Any one narrative might include
tigers, sorcery, his prefecture at boarding school or all three! Such was his
ability in the aural tradition, we’d look forward to him taking stage at
lunchtime or during one of his famed tea breaks. The tale that abides is one I
title now as “The Boy who would Bring Rain.” In this story, Simeon told of a
time when there had been no rainfall and the people feared drought or worse
still, impending famine. Amidst the clamour, various individuals from the
community were being tasked with conducting a ritual that would bring a
downpour. After several unsuccessful attempts, the elders chanced on Simeon,
then a boy of only 6 or 7. Amazingly, on completing the ceremonial task, there
were showers, followed by a palpable sense of relief amongst the people. My
pragmatism in tow, I asked Simeon:

> “Do you believe there was anything special in what you did?”

Quick as a flash and with a definite playfulness in his voice, he responded:

> “Well, everyone else tried, didn’t they?”

This event cast Simeon into the limelight and cemented his position in his
tribe. He held this position till his passing. Zoom offered another insight into
Simeon’s world and over the last 6 months, we have seen a vast array of
beautiful Nigerian attire – regal robes full of colour, usually accompanied by
millinery – showing what a sharp dresser he was.

STORMZY - KINGSTON HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

A London-based grime MC of Ghanaian heritage, Stormzy made a swift rise in the
early 2010s to become one of the U.K.’s most critically acclaimed artists.
Climbing out of the underground grime scene with a series of triumphant
mixtapes, singles, and freestyles, he made his breakthrough in 2017 with his
platinum-certified, chart-topping debut Gang Signs & Prayer, which incorporated
gospel and R&B influences. Within five years of the release of his debut EP, he
was a Glastonbury festival headliner.

Stormzy is a mulit-award-winning artist, including 3 Brits, 6 MOBOs and an MTV
Europe Music award.

In 2018, Stormzy launched the Cambridge scholarship ‘The Stormzy Scholarship’,
which pays for tuition fees and provides a maintenance grant for up to four
years of an undergraduate course for some black students. He also recently
donated £500,000 to The Black Heart Foundation which helps fund educational
scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, as part of his
commitment to becoming a major philanthropist supporting black British causes.

In June 2020, Stormzy announced he will donate £10m to black British causes over
the next 10 years: “Organisations, charities and movements that are committed to
fighting racial inequality, justice reform and black empowerment within the UK.”

SYBIL PHOENIX OBE - OXLEAS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Sybil Phoenix is a devoted community worker and is the first black person to
receive an MBE. Growing up in British Guiana (now Guyana) in the 1920s and
1930s, Sybil found a passion for helping others at her local church, where she
helped to run the youth club.

Having moved to London in 1956 with her fiancée Joe, Sybil saw no need to stop
being a champion for her community and started fostering local children in her
adopted home of Lewisham. She quickly became known as someone who would provide
care for children who were ‘forgotten about’ by wider society, and this work
attracted more and more attention. When she was offered an MBE in the 1973
Honours List, Sybil said she would only accept it if she was given something for
the community she served, not just for her as an individual. Thus, her supported
housing project for single homeless young women in Lewisham was born.

In 1977, the Moonshot youth club in New Cross, one of Sybil’s many projects and
the first purpose-built community centre for black youth in the country, was
firebombed by the National Front. Her incredible words in reaction:

> “My name is Phoenix and I will build a new centre from the ashes of this club,
> so help me God.”

By 1981, Prince Charles was in attendance as the renovated, expanded club was
reopened. Now in her nineties, she has had a spell as Civic Mayoress of Lewisham
(having advised the borough on racial issues for some time), has been awarded
the freedom of the City of London and the upgraded honour of OBE. The work she
has done in south-east London is beyond compare and she continues her busy life
in a borough that is still inspired and touched by her work every day.

YOMI OGUNSOLA - HOUNSLOW AND RICHMOND COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST

Yomi Ogunzola is theDivisional Manager for Community Nursing at Hounslow and
Richmond Healthcare NHS Trust. Yomi’s knowledge and understanding of community
nursing is second to none, as he was a community nurse himself for a number of
years. Due to this understanding and knowledge, Yomi is a leader who is seen to
have great integrity.



Yomi has a strong management team who value all staff equally and strive to
deliver high-quality services for patients. This has been against the backdrop
of a national shortage of qualified community nurses and an increase in the
complexity of patients being treated in their own homes. He and his team have
ensured that despite these challenges and at a time of significant change for
community nursing, the service has significantly improved across a range of
performance and quality standards.

THE PEOPLE’S PICTURE

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leading edge of design and technology visit www.thepeoplespicture.com

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England. To find out more about what we do, visit: www.england.nhs.uk

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