My Dad came to this country in the 1960’s with many other ‘uncles’ from Bangladesh. He then brought my mother over in 1969 and I was born here in 1970. The uncles that came here at that time were from well off families as they were the ones who could afford the fare, which I think was the £10 labour voucher. My father worked as a bus conductor while my uncles worked in factories 18hrs a day, saving every penny to then buy their own restaurants/businesses. While we were children we lived in bedsits and our mother’s cooked on 2 ring electric cookers and washed our clothes in the bath tub. Our parents instilled in us the need to be educated. So that their sacrifice of homeland and family would not be in vain. So my cousins and I made sure we went to university and got our degrees.

-Luna, London