Shades of Black is a community organization in the
Handsworth area of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, formed after the
Handsworth riots in the mid-1980s, extending from the 1990s to work in other deprived areas including
Stechford.
The group works with local schools at two large
allotments in the city.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are taught about
vegetable
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...
gardening. The produce is distributed to elderly people who cook for themselves, to elderly day care centres and any surplus used at a local catering college to help students prepare food from other cultures.
The founder, Mrs E C McGhie-Belgrave, a former
probation
Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration.
In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...
worker, was awarded an MBE by the
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
in 2002.
External links
Shades of Black
Community organisations in Birmingham, West Midlands
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