To ask Black MNers where to move if I leave London?

[IMissVino]

We are a mid 30’s Black couple, expecting our first DC (yay)! We want to move out of London, for all the usual reasons (better life for kids, bigger house, access to countryside) but the bits of the South East that we’ve liked and looked at haven’t seemed particularly diverse and we’re not looking to be the village oddities.

If you’re a Black person and you don’t live in London or another big city, where do you live, are you happy there, and would you recommend it to young Black families?

We’re not from the U.K., so no particular ties to any area (although the SE is what we know, so will probably stay round here), we can both mostly wfh and money isn’t really a factor. So, please, all suggestions are welcome.

Not really looking for non-Black posters to assure me of how welcoming their particular areas are or tell me where their Black friends live. I’m hoping to get firsthand lived experiences from other BW, please.

Having been to Scotland, having spoken to other Black people who have lived and gone to uni in Scotland, the news, stats.

I can’t help but notice that you didn’t answer my questions upthread. Was this a conscious decision or did you miss them?

That sounds lovely. I definitely don’t want to be the only Black family in the village, though. But it sounds delightful to visit.

I’ve actually never found London to be segregated.

My black family have lived in Cardiff since the late 1890s . Tiger Bay was one of most racially mixed places in the UK. Long standing carribean culture with Carnival and plenty of food and hair places. It was shit for my nana and grandad in the 1950s but its a great small city now for people of colour.

Sorry, I know you don't want white opinions, but my mixed race niece dropped out of her uni course in Hastings as she said she barely saw another non-white face, and was treated appallingly at her part time job. She couldn't wait to get out of there. Hastings is where old white people go to retire

Read my reply to another who claims Hastings is no-go for Black people. Thats my response to current times. Not past times. After all if we weretotalk abiutoast times in England everywhere would be racist wouldn't it?

Im Black, Im in Hastings now and very regularly so I should know. Better than you. & by the way this isn't my post so I don't know why you're mentioning that I 'don't want White opinions', since I haven't said so.

hattie43
That's strange . I've never seen a black face in Hastings and have lived there

Oh really.. Have you been to the 'Playing The Race Card' 2022 exhibition at Greenhalf Art Studio in St Leonards, hosted by a BW and other BW creatives who all live in Hastings - & 1 of them also has a shop on the Hastings seafront?

Black owned Sugar Pie Cafe? & the African restaurants? Goats Ledge, Oscars, White Rock Hotel, St Marys, who all very regularly host music events led by Black DJs and creatives?

I could go on but I won't as you either dont live in Hastings or haven't been there for donkeys years, or you'd know the score.

The OP is asking for genuine, current information

I’m not black but I’m brown and I wouldn’t move to Kent. We are making the move away from London ourselves and don’t find Kent diverse at all. It’s massively put off. I know Kent is a vast area, but nearly every time we spent time there and went to a pub / restaurant, we got stares.

Banbury is a lovely place unfortunately it’s the people who live in it. The state schools are rubbish but the private ones are outstanding. Our next door neighbour is racist. He had to beg my bloke to stop the mental torture he was giving him. My daughter has experienced racism at one of the local schools and I have known other black children to go through the same thing.

I'm sorry to hear that.
This hasn't been my experience of the town.
I also don't know which state schools you are referring to - both mine are thriving at theirs.

We live in Swindon.
I grew up here (white British) but my husband is Gambian (moved here 5 years ago) and mixed race DC (and obviously black in laws and nephews).

We're on the M4 corridor so easy access back to London, it's a reasonably good town, not far from Bristol and Oxford and definitely multicultural. My DS isn't the odd one out at school or in the area.

I hope this is helpful (I know you only wanted first hand experience but I'm close enough to know my DH and SILs are happy in Swindon).

Manchester

Why not move to the outskirts of SE London? Chislehurst is lovely and diverse.

Just did a search and this came up. Where did you end up moving, OP? We’re in a similar boat and this has been a useful thread!