Anita David is a community educator, with over 25 years of teaching experience and many years of experience of working and volunteering within the charity sector. She received Portsmouth’s Inspiring Volunteer Award in 2018, for her wide range of volunteer work in the community. These include volunteering as an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher for refugees and asylum seekers, as well as coordinator and interpreter for the British Red Cross, Portsmouth.
Anita has worked collaboratively with various local organisations and community groups to facilitate volunteering events and opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers, for social integration. This Action Asylum project was launched as a national initiative in the House of Lords in October 2022.
She is known in the community for her long-standing support of vulnerable women from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community. During the COVID lockdowns in the UK, Anita organised free remote ESOL classes and conversation clubs for refugees and other vulnerable migrants to facilitate support for the migrant population, including one conversation club with Bonny (see our origin story for WBI). These forums were important for local charities to understand the needs of the local migrant community, which went through much hardship out of sight during the pandemic.
Currently, Anita is also the development and outreach coordinator for the WEA (Workers Educational Association). Anita works with stakeholders to develop education provision in new areas of Portsmouth.
Anita has an MA in Education from University of Roehampton London and an MA in International Relations from the University of Karachi. She is passionate about community service, volunteering and community learning. Anita draws on her vast experience of living and working with people of all backgrounds.
