Peterborough. A small city located in the East of England. A small city that also happens to be my home town.

According to the Office for National Statistics, Peterborough has an estimated population of 203,000 and, according to the 2011 census, only 2.3% of the population identify as Black. Moving as a child from culturally diverse London to a predominantly white area that was Peterborough was eye-opening. I quickly adjusted, as my new environment became my norm. However, as I got older, I started to really appreciate having a community of other Black families around me and I soon started to wonder what exactly having this community meant for me.

I caught up with my Auntie Lara who moved to Peterborough with her husband from Nigeria in 2006. Now a mother of three, Auntie Lara described the initial cultural shock she experienced when first moving to Peterborough.