MY DEAR PARENTS By Simone Sanivari

Margaret and Simon Thomas arrived on British soil in the year 1958 with me and my two sisters Arlene and Glynnis in tow.

I was already on the way and with money saved, my parents rented some basic accommodation in North London. Consequently, I was born under the sound of the Bow Bells making me a true cockney. Their plan was to live off my mother’s salary as a teacher whilst my father was planning to train in accountancy. Prior to this he had been working as a social worker in South Africa. Unfortunately, my mother’s qualifications were not recognised by the UK authorities, so she was unable to work as a teacher and she spent her time caring for her 3 children under 4 years of age. It couldn’t have been easy.

My father has always been very sharp and ambitious and with mother’s drive and intellect they made a dynamic young mixed-race couple. As well as being of African origin we also have some Scottish and German in us. I guess this explains why we all have fire in our belly and when push comes to shove, we will stand up for what we feel is right.

Not long after our stay in North London my parents found more suitable accommodation in Bickley and then went about finding a small terraced house to buy.

Finances were extremely tight, but my parents were very resourceful. instead of sending us to the local State school they sent us to a Church of England school called St George where education was of a higher standard. We all played two instruments each. I chose the violin and the piano and we all played in the school orchestra. I was also in a quartet and sang in the school choir and of course in St George’s church on Sundays. We all enjoyed every aspect of music, but singing especially. My Dad had an old Ferguson reel to reel recorder, and we loved making recordings as well and showing them to any and everyone who visited our home.

My youngest sister Michelle arrived 9 years after me and we all really enjoyed having her to look after. She was truly treated like a living doll. We dressed her up in all fancy clothes, outfits that my parents could not afford for us when we were younger. She was really loved.

By the time I went to secondary school I had found my niche in Gymnastics and former Olympic Champion Margaret Bell became my coach. I became part of the elite team, so we entered national competitions and I was chosen to train in the Czech Republic with another elite gymnast, Carole Gould.

As a young teenager I found a penchant for dressing up and really got into punk clothing at the very beginning of its existence, before it went mainstream. I was briefly one of the original members of Siouxsie and The Banshees, playing electric Violin, but I never felt entirely comfortable as it was so far removed from the classical music I had played from the age of 5. I went on to sing in a Jazz Funk band which was much more my style and my taste, and I donned the newer romantic style of clothing.

Bowie was a huge influence on me and still is to this day. I went on to play in many other bands and we supported Ashford and Simpson at The Dominion Theatre as well as playing regularly at The Embassy Club in London.

When I was 17, my father got a contract with the University of Botswana. I was very independently minded and decided to stay in London with my two older sisters.

My dear parents BY SIMONE SANIVARI

I later travelled a lot and lived in Spain for several years, which was where my son Jay was born. When he was 3 years old, I returned to England. I knew I would be able to get him a better education here and he was bright and took to the move like a duck to water.

As I knew South East London very well, this is where we made our new home and I eventually married my childhood sweetheart James Plummer. We both had one child from previous relationships and his daughter was 1 year older than Jay. As they are also mixed-race people assumed they were brother and sister and as we became a family when they were young was indeed a blessing in creating the family unit.

I went on to study music while Jay was in school and then once he was in secondary school starting working as a supporting artist and because of my musical skills got to feature in The Bill as a police woman singing at The Chief Of Police’s memorial service. This led to more featured work and then getting an acting agent, Longrun Artistes. Work is so varied, and this made it very exciting. Over the years I have worked on EastEnders, Holby City, Silent Witness, Love Actually, Batman, Harry Potter to name a few. I have been filmed for many commercials. The scariest thing I have experienced is being on a shoot for the underwear brand Sloggi, where I was lead gospel singer and we were skating a choreographed routine on ice. It was shot in Ukraine and it was a truly amazing experience and I am so grateful I did not break my legs.

I am just starting work on a new TV drama called Bloods playing a nurse.

Sadly, James was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis around 20 years ago. He is unable to walk unaided and uses a wheelchair. Prior to Multiple Sclerosis he had been a very successful businessman.

I have written a health food book called Uberdacious, Eat Yourself Healthy which is available on Amazon. I am really into health foods and have eaten a mainly plant based diet for almost 40 years now. My parents are also mainly vegan and my Dad who is 93 looks at least 15 years younger and can still beat us all at Scrabble!

I think that many more people are aware of a need to eat good quality and nourishing food and I wrote the book to share some of recipes that do just that.

I enjoy and know the benefits of keeping fit especially in the precarious health world health situation. I have included a number of exercise tips in the book, and have to confess to Yoga being my favourite.

My son and I were lucky to take a holiday in Cape Town with my parents just before Lockdown this year. We see them on Skype every week and are glad that they are doing well and can see other relatives every weekend.

Everyone’s wish, no matter what religion or race is for this virus to go away so that we can hopefully return to a more normal lifestyle once again.

Simone and her son, Jay

From the first public sculptures of Black Britons to the home of Britain’s first West Indian newspaper, help us celebrate the Black histories of 31 places in England in October

#BlackHistoryMonth HistoricEngland.org.uk/BlackHistoryMonth