To celebrate Black History Month, The Chronicle sat down with Ms Sharon Titus, 55, of Cemetery Junction, to discuss her involvement within Reading’s black community.

Sharon works with Apollo Youth Club, the oldest Black youth-run organisation in Reading, and is leading Apollo’s Black History Month activities. She is one of the leading contributors to the Windrush75 event this Saturday October 7.

Born and bred in Reading, Sharon’s parents came over to England from Jamaica to build a life for their family.

“I’m lucky enough to still have a dad to talk to him about his experiences,” Sharon says. “When they first came here and saw the houses with smoke coming out of them, they thought they were factories. It was so different to the houses back home.”

The original founders of the youth club were the children of the Windrush generation. “They wanted to do what teenagers do,” she says. “They wanted somewhere they could go and chill in a safe space.”

They started off meeting on a weekly basis in a friend’s living room, and then moved to a premises on Chain Street. Apollo Youth Club now runs from Map Street in the town centre.

In its early days, the group also ran a Saturday school to help local black students. “At this point, inequalities in the education system were just coming to the surface. Black kids were not seeing themselves in books, history classes, etc. They were being forgotten by the system.”

The youth club went on to develop the Black History Calendar to raise money for the organisation. The calendar sold nationwide, and each month focussed on a different black historical event.

This Saturday, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Windrush, Sharon and other volunteers will be hosting an afternoon tea at the map centre.

Attendees of the event will see portraits of Reading Windrush families and will watch a documentary. Local singing star Julia Titus will be performing, and Reading’s mayor will also be in attendance. “Apollo celebrated its 50th year this year,” says Sharon. “So, this event is to celebrate that as well.”

When asked about the challenges Sharon faces as a black woman living in Reading, she replied “Living in England, you face challenges being black. We are always seen as a minority. Growing up I used to be annoyed at my parents for not moving to Birmingham, but now I am grateful as Reading has not many challenges.”

“Unity within Reading’s black community is thriving at the moment. It was there in the 70s, then we lost it a bit but it’s coming back now. People here are more inclusive here than what I have experienced in other parts of England.”