Letter: Reflections on living in Taunton for 54 years

On March 5 this year, I completed 56 years living in the UK, and 54 of those have been in Taunton.

I was thinking of those years living in Taunton.

I think when my late husband and I arrived here in August 1972, we had just been married a few months earlier in a registry office in Surrey, lived and worked in London and Surrey, Taunton felt like a rural town.

I had just completed my nurse training in the Kingston General Hospital in Surrey and my husband had finished his postings as a junior doctor.

He was here to take up a post in the now-closed Tone Vale Hospital as a psychiatrist, and I was going to start my career as a trained nurse in Musgrove Park Hospital, where my first job was in the operating theatres.

I think we were really in the minority, as there were no other 'foreign' staff in our workplaces.

But the friendship, support and goodwill we received really made us feel at home.

This became our home, our careers were made here, children born and educated went on to glittering careers.

I have made lasting friendships, and I have tried to give back a bit to the county by being involved in charity and voluntary work, and I think I have served on most platforms as a volunteer and thoroughly enjoyed it.

When I hear statements like the British countryside is racist and other stories, it makes me wonder what went wrong and where; why is there hostility towards immigrants?

I accept that there has been almost a free passage for people from the subcontinent since the previous government allowed a free passage after breaking ties with Europe.

I volunteered when the Syrian refugees arrived, and what struck me was that we do not explain to the newcomers what their responsibilities and obligations are, how and what they can contribute to the host country, that they are not here to just better their lives but to put something back too.

That they can only learn if they open their minds and hearts to the host community, too.

I think the councils across the UK should put more emphasis on teaching what is expected of the newcomers, rather than the stories they hear.

I would love Somerset Council to have a day every month or so in our library where people could drop in, and locals can maybe just chat, answer any questions, etc.

I will be willing to give my time, and I am sure a lot of others will too.

Sabina Ahmed