Working at Anchor - Kiran's Story

My name is Kiran Zafar and I’ve been with Anchor for about 4 years now. I work as an Administrative Assistant at Sutherland Court in Penge, which is an extra care scheme.

The best part of my job is being able to make a difference to others. Even if it’s something little like spending time with them, arranging activities, or helping with bigger issues such as housing benefit, DWP issues. It all makes a massive difference to the residents and gives them the confidence to still live independently. 

And I love my colleagues too. When is started, it was just at the start of the merger between Anchor Trust and Hanover Housing so there was so many different ways of working and different styles. But we’ve come so far since then and there is a real spirit amongst everyone to be one team.

Besides the normal day job, I am also a part of Anchor’s embRACE network, which is a staff network for those of us who belong to ethnic minority backgrounds. Being part of embRACE makes me feel like I can be me. A British Indian, a working mother with 3 kids, who is married to a Muslim. I can talk about all these things (and more!) that bring us challenges every day and I can do it openly and safely without feeling ‘different’. 

We can laugh and joke together and also the network gives me a safety net for when I might need support. It’s a sense of community, with a really strong group of individuals. I’ve really appreciated everything the network has been able to offer me over the last few months especially.

Recently, as part of my activity with the embRACE network, I have raised awareness of Raksha Bhandan, Vaisakhi and Eid and provided information on these religious festivals in order to educate and celebrate. 

Celebrating South Asian Heritage Month at Anchor

I’ve also been involved with celebrating South Asian Heritage Month at Anchor where we’ve been sharing “did you know” posts about the 8 countries in South Asia on our internal social media platform, Workplace.  We also held a Lunch & Learn event for colleagues where I was one of the speakers. I shared a story about my mum’s journey from Africa to England as part of the apartheid led by Idi Amin where South Asians were forced to flee Uganda.

As a mother of 3 children, with parents and extended families from different backgrounds and cultures, it’s become more important for me to tell them about where we’ve come from, how our lives have become what they are today, so I guess I owe my increasing involvement to them. 

Learn more about our networks and how we strive to make diversity and inclusion an everyday reality for colleagues and residents here.