Lynette with Bishop Fiona, Susann Savidge, Chair Somerset African Caribbean Network, Lynette's daughter Chrissy Richards-Levi
Lynette Richards-Lorde was one of many young people from the Caribbean who came to Britain as part of the Windrush Generation. She was just 19 in 1959 when she travelled more than 4,000 miles from her home in Guyana to begin her training as a nurse at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton. Lynette, like many others, had answered an invitation from the British government to come to the UK to work in the NHS. She went on to have a wonderful and very distinguished career, achieving her dream of becoming a midwife and rising to become a pioneering nurse and the UK’s first Black divisional nursing officer for midwifery.
This week Lynette returned to Somerset to visit the diocese and share her memories of her time here. She met Bishop Fiona and Susann Savage, Chair of Somerset African Caribbean Network. It was an opportunity to look back with her on a remarkable journey of courage, service, perseverance and faith. She shared how, “For the first couple of weeks I was very homesick. It took a long time to hear from home. It took six weeks for letters to come. It was hard at first, but then I was fine and I started to receive more letters and boxes of treats from home.”
Coming to Britain as a young woman meant stepping into the unknown. Somerset was very different from Lynette’s home in Guyana. She carried with her an introduction letter from her local vicar, and one of the first things she did was join a local church. Lynette said it was very important for her to do that straight away. “It was absolutely vital. I took a very active part in my church and led a very Christian life, and I felt if I got that at least it would be a foundation for me to have something strong with people who had the same beliefs as I had.”
Lynette’s story offers a glimpse of what it meant to be a young Black woman building a life and career in Britain at that time. Lynette spoke honestly about her experiences, including how it was not until she moved to Birmingham that she nursed Black patients, but she also shared how she made many friends along the way. “Initially I felt people were cautious because my accent was different, my colour was different, and I was conscious of that. But I made many friends and have many happy memories of my time in Taunton.”
Nursing became a significant part of Lynette’s life, the foundations of which were laid in Taunton. She said, “Looking back, one thing Taunton taught me is personal care. Take care of peoole as if they are your family, how you would like to be treated. I introduced this personalised care in midwifery, and it is something I have championed. It is my gift to midwifery.”
Throughout her life Lynette’s faith has been a constant source of strength to her. It has supported her through difficult times, and has also given her times of great joy and a sense of community. “I have conversations every day with God. I say, ‘God, it’s between you and me; let’s try and work this out.’ I have great faith in God. My favourite prayer is The Lord is my Shepherd.”
Lynette’s story encourages us to recognise God’s presence in our journey, even when things feel uncertain, and to reflect on how we can offer welcome to those whose experiences may be different from our own.
