Racism, children and positivism

By Catherine Page

Racial prejudice in 1962

The difference between England and British Guiana

Education in school or later?

Children who wouldn't go to school

Yvonne's attitude to life

How openness gets her through

Photo from WRVS Heritage Plus Archive

Yvonne D'Avilar arrived in London from British Guiana in 1962. After four years, she, her former husband and their children moved to Brighton.   Left on her own to bring up a young family, she found herself juggling with the all-too-familiar problems of exuberant children and part-time jobs. She and her children triumphantly survived and now three of her grandchildren are in University, but in 1993, she had to have an operation. When it went wrong it robbed her of the twin and sustaining pleasures of dancing and going for long walks by the sea.

Despite that, Yvonne has become a life force in the Black, Minority and Ethnic Elders group which meets in Brighton, and inspired by her infectious laugh and her can-do attitude, many of the group have come to rely on her.