Make Bradford British - Audrey

13 February 2012

48 year-old mum of three Audrey is landlady of a pub in central Bradford.

On being British, Audrey says: I've got my passport.  I know I'm British.  I was born here but I don't think other people look at me as British because other people look at me and see my colour."

 

Why did you decide to take part in the series?
Mainly because of the issues I thought it would cover, because of the state of the city that I live in.

 

Why is Bradford segregated?
I just think that there are certain segments of society that don't want to integrate with anybody else.  They just want everything for themselves and their particular culture, their race.

 

What did people your community think about you taking part in the series?
They were very worried, and still are, actually. Because the issues the programme's dealing with are very controversial.

 

Was the project what you expected it to be?
I think, having watched the programme, it's a very watered-down version. I don't think it's controversial enough.

Do you think you were fairly represented in the programme?
Yeah, I do actually.

 

What were the high and the low points of the project for you?
One was when Des said he got beaten up in a pub in Keighley purely because of his colour, and the landlord and everybody in the pub just looked the other way. The high points were living with Asian people I would never have dreamt of living with. Also going into an Asian person's house. I've lived in Bradford for over 40 years, and I'd never ever been invited into an Asian person's house for a cup of tea.

 

What do you think you learned from the experience?
I think to try to be more tolerant of other races.

 

What does it mean to be British?
I don't think it means anything to be British nowadays. What is there to be staunchly proud of? There's not one particular thing that I could put my finger on and say ‘this makes me British'. The fact that I've got a British passport tells me I'm British, but the colour of my skin tells everybody else that I'm not. I've got my passport, I'm born here, I'm British. But I still get people asking me where I'm from.