Article on Alice Mpofu Coles

Alice is married and has two adult daughters living and working in London. When she cameto the UK in 2002, she settled in Reading. Alice is currently in a post-viva stage of her PhD onIdentity and Activities of Young Zimbabwean people in the UK. She works as Research Assistant in Human Geography, and part of her role is being involved in Race Equality at the University of Reading. She has been an elected Labour and Cooperative Party Local Councill or for Whitley Wardsince2022.

For over 19 years, she has advocated for refugees, and volunteered at the Reading RefugeeSupport Group (RRSG) both as vice-chair and chair, including being involved in the Gruntivig Women’s Project – Women Refugees Learning together in Europe. She is currently a trustee of the Reading City of Sanctuary, a Vice-Chair for the Alliance for Cohesion and Racial Equality (ACRE) and a member of the Circle of Wise Women for Global Female Wave of Change. She is also a trustee in the City of Sanctuary and involved in the Universities of Sanctuaries in the UK –to give scholarships to refugees and be a safe space for sanctuary seekers. She also advocates and portrays a more positive image of refugees, black women, and young people by participating in numerous projects and talks. She has done BBC television documentaries and interviews on refugees’ plight, poverty, and women andspeaks at events and conferences. Alice does community research, and in June 2022 her research project was shortlisted as a finalist for the Research Excellence Impact Awards at the University of Reading. She was given the most inspirational refugee women Driver’s Award in 2020. She nominated the Reading Refugee Support Group for the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, and this was awarded in 2019, receiving from the Queen’s representative, the Sheriff of Berkshire. At Poole’s ceremony, she was given an Honorary Masters of Universities by the Open University in 2013 for her services to refugees, communities, education, and civil services. She was awarded by President Chissano of Mozambique in 1996 for her writing on workingwith culturally diverse communities. This was achieved while working as a Zimbabwe diplomat in Mozambique and preceded a posting to the former Yugoslavia, Belgrade. Despite her adversity of losing seven family members in 13 years, Alice wrote a book DEAR GOD FROM YOUR POACHED EGG BREAST, about her breast cancer diagnosis in 2007, chemotherapy and mastectomy while studying. She continues to advocate for breast cancer awareness in women.

In the work that we all do - Alice brings listening, participating as part to and understandthe concerns and priorities of people and aim to have their views through different channels. The aim is to improve the community engagement, create, facilitate & reinforce adiverse multidisciplinary space for communities in terms of a bottom-upframework. “You can lose everything, but nobody can take away your education. ” https://www. alicempofucoles. com/