Maninder Kaur Matharu was raised in Chandigarh, India. She joined a migrant living in England with his family in 1971, after getting married at the age of 18.

I came to England with hopes and dreams, aspiring to become something successful. I was disheartened because I could not use my education, and was told to sew coats in a factory. I felt like I had no-one I could share my feelings with. Factory life was not for me.

After two years, my father-in-law told me to stop working, and care for the family. There was lots to do at home. Things had to be done by hand. We didn’t have fridges or washing machines. 

I wanted my children to be well educated. Every parent has that thought - Whatever we didn’t do in our lives, our children can do.

Years later, my children and husband asked: “Mum what are you going to do sitting at home?... You should use your education.” I was really scared when I went back to college for the first time. They tested me rigorously, I couldn’t believe that I got a distinction. My husband joked, “they just gave it to you”. They said, “The housework won’t end anyway. So just go.” So I enrolled in Handsworth College. Got my GCSE’s - that old education came in useful. I did my RSA in bilingual and interpreting. Then, I was a bilingual teacher for 20 years.