FOR NEARLY four decades, The Pepper Pot Centre has been a safe haven for the black African and Caribbean community and Windrush Generation who left the Caribbean accepting the call to help rebuild the United Kingdom in 1948 after the Second World War.

The origin of the name Pepper Pot comes from an Amerindian dish made popular in Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean. It’s basic ingredients of peppers and meat such as beef and oxtail is usually made in a large pot and can be reheated and eaten over several months because the cassareep sauce made from cassava that gives it a unique dark brown and black hue which acts as a preservative agent. It was with this in mind that a centre was created to preserve the rich black African and Caribbean heritage to be found in the UK.

“The two visits by the Queen (in 1981 to unveil the centre and then in June 2006) were an honour and also a testimony in support of the critical service provided by the centre.”

Howard Jeffrey

Founded in 1981 by the late Pansy Jeffrey, The Pepper Pot Centre was created in response to the mounting levels of discrimination and loneliness to be found among the aging Caribbean community which had settled in the UK.

The establishment of such a community hub at that time could be now looked upon as revolutionary with the centre being the only one of its kind offering culturally specific services open to all communities in the Royal London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

Pioneer

A fearless and tireless fighter against racial discrimination from the 1950’s right through to the 1980’s, Pansy Jeffrey was born in 1926 in New Amsterdam Berbice in what was then the Colony of British Guyana. She came to England in the late 1940’s during the aftermath of the Second World War responding to the demand for nurses.

Upon training as an SRN nurse, ward sister, midwife and health visitor, Pansy contributed many years of service to the NHS. 1959 saw the beginning of a long association with the Royal London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea when Pansy was appointed as a West Indian social worker at the local Citizens Advice Bureau to improve race relations during a time of mounting tension and unease after the infamous Notting Hill riots.

She would later work with Lord Gifford to set up the North Kensington Law Centre, a place where those on low incomes could receive advice and was the first of its kind which led to the spread of more law centres across the country.

As well as her involvement in numerous other local projects such as the North Kensington Family Centre and the original Notting Hill Carnival Committee where she officiated as treasurer, Pansy also had a phenomenal 20 year spell as a Justice for the Peace at the Horseferry, Marlborough and Bow Street Magistrate Courts.

Served

Pansy worked alongside eminent individuals such as Lord David Pitt, Chris Le Maitre and Sir Herman Ousley among others in establishing the Pepper Pot Centre which served to meet the culturally specific needs of the Black African and Caribbean community.

Today the centre continues to take pride in being a social hub where the aging African Caribbean community can come together to share stories and reminisce on the past while also tapping into additional benefits such as financial advice and assistance in housing on offer.

The legacy Pansy has left through the establishment of the Pepper Pot Centre continues through her three children, six grandchildren and four great grandchildren and among them, her son, Howard, who is the current chair of the centre.

While there have been many fond memories during the 39 year tenure of the centre, Howard, 66, recalls in particular the visit of one special royal visitor: “The two visits by the Queen (in 1981 to unveil the centre and then in June 2006) were an honour and also a testimony in support of the critical service provided by the centre as we were told that the Queen never visits any organisation more than once,” said Howard.

Grandchildren

A married father of three children and four grandchildren, Howard worked for 40 years in education with 20 of those years as a director in further and higher education including as an Assistant Director at Jacksonville University in Florida, USA.

Howard, who in the 1980’s created the UK’s first ever Black Students Mentoring Programme which had among its mentors former journalists from The Voice, including Marie Cunningham, Ron Shillingford and Yvonne Taylor, was awarded an MBE in 1999 before taking the helm as the current chair of the Pepper Pot Centre.

Today the centre continues to combat discrimination, isolation, depression and loneliness amongst the growing older generation of black African and Caribbean folk and most crucially to empower these individuals to take charge of their own lives after the sacrifices they made to the country during their younger years.

“Today the centre continues to combat discrimination, isolation, depression and loneliness amongst the growing older generation of black African and Caribbean folk.”

Computers donated by Barking and Dagenham College along with a specialist tutor have given the older generation the opportunity to participate in IT lessons leading to improvements in confidence as well as the creation of intergenerationality which bridges the generation gap between the young and old.

Communities

The centre is well respected amongst all communities while Social Service departments have always seeked opportunities to use its successful model of meeting culturally-specific needs in the delivery of their own service.

While the centre is transforming lives, Howard points out what Voice readers can do in ensuring the legacy of the centre continues: “During this crisis you can help the Pepper Pot Centre by any of the following:

• Providing groceries – rice, pasta, tin foods, bread, vegetables, provisions toiletries, cleaning materials, water, drink etc.
• Providing ‘pre-prepared food’, namely food that our elderly members can just heat up.
• Working on our behalf to negotiate support from companies or local outlets like: Tesco, Sainsbury, M&S, restaurant chains, petrol stations and any other options you may wish to consider.
• Financial donations which will help us to support our members by providing: food, PPE, groceries, petrol for the minivan, bereavement, support, regular phone calls for members in ‘lockdown’ who need information, emotional support and practical strategies to help them cope during this crisis.”

If you would like to make a monetary donation please click the donate button on the Pepper Pot website – link here: https://www.pepperpotcentre.org.uk/donations

Alternatively you can send a cheque made payable to The Pepper Pot Centre, 1A Thorpe Close, London, W10 5XL. 

Or if you would like to help this critical service please get in contact on – 0208 968 6940 or [email protected]