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1 nomination from readers

• By using her in-depth, first-hand knowledge of the female BAME community living in Tower Hamlets, Shamim has been able to generate a pragmatic, grass-roots response to the pressing issue of the high levels of economic inactivity amongst some ethnic groups, particularly women. Shamim looked closely at the skills and experience these women had. Though not a glamorous occupation, cleaning represented an employment opportunity that these women could pursue. Shamim assembled a group of women, trained them all up to the same high standards and proceeded to go out and sell the cleaning service of CCS to potential clients in the local area. This was not without challenges; although cleaning was familiar to the women, it also potentially represented a point of lost pride; the social expectations for women emigrating from Bangladesh to the UK are that they should be living a life in which the cleaning of other people’s houses does not feature. This belief had prevented the women from previously engaging in this type of employment. This concern was immediately comprehended by Shamim; by working with the women she ensured that they understood that in the UK, cleaning is a perfectly respectable occupation.

  Once the women were trained and the cleaning contracts were in place, a final challenge had to be overcome – these women were still unable to understand English, and were therefore unable to negotiate public transport to get to their jobs. This didn’t stand in the way of Shamim who, in signature style, faced matters head on and started driving the women to and from their jobs in her own car to enable them to get around safely with someone they and their families knew and trusted. Shamim also gathers the clients’ cleaning requirements and instructions and translates them so that the women can follow them.

  Nominated by Joanne Stetzel, 07 May 2008