Portia Thaxter

Engagingly and enthusiastically talking about local projects, Labour councillor for St Helens ward, Portia Thaxter, alternately talks optimistically of genuinely helpful local projects and then lifts the stone on some dark and sad parts of our community.

One programme making a big difference to people in the area is the Kensington & Chelsea Foodbank at the Notting Hill Methodist Church in Lancaster Road, run by Susannah Yarde and helped by Thaxter, with donations from members of the public, from local businesses, and from organisations such as Clarendon Cross Residents’ Association.

The food bank was set up in October 2018 to help feed local families. “The food all comes from donations,” explains Thaxter, “Local residents sometimes buy items from Tesco and Waitrose to donate which is very appreciated. Sometimes organisations are closing down and they know they are not going to sell the food and toiletries and so they donate it to us. Some people are regular donors paying a sum by standing order, others come along with a bag or two of food and household goods.”

Following a family tragedy and the death of her brother, Thaxter decided to study biology. She then went on to study Humanities and Social Science at Kensington & Chelsea College, going on to obtain her BSc degree in Biological Sciences, with a subsequent Masters degree in Public Health. Thaxter also set up Positive Choice Enterprises, a mentoring organisation for 16-25 year olds.

“There is new money in the area but business and community centres have disappeared because of lack of support.” Portia has been involved with the Pepperpot Centre, set up in 1981 by Pansy Jeffrey as a drop-in centre for recently retired, redundant or disabled members of the elderly African Caribbean community. “From this, I realised that our African Caribbean community was neglected”, she says. Portia hopes to gain backing for a new Caribbean Social Centre in the north of the borough, where all members of the community can meet, socialise and come together to find solutions with the resources they need. The centre will honour and celebrate the important legacy and contribution of previous generations of the African Caribbean community in this area.

“People will be able to meet and also be encouraged to make historical contributions, photographs and written histories, possibly using some Notting Hill Carnival funds for an archive from the riots to present day, to show how we have come together,” enthuses Thaxter. “So much of the Caribbean community’s contributions to the area have been pinched and pilfered. Over the years, a lot of Caribbean people started organisations, businesses and projects that were taken over and ended up in the hands of others. We start things which get hijacked. This Centre would mean having a place where children can go where they belong, where young people can be supported, and where members of our community can socialise and support each other.” Thaxter believes this is an important project. “It is our duty to lead by example”, she says.

Having grown up in Norland ward, Portia has watched while all the jobs being created just don’t seem to get local people off the ground. Because of this, she decided to put forward a motion in the Council calling for local jobs for local people. “Our young people locally have a lot of really valuable skills and a lot of enthusiasm. They have so much to offer employers, and a lot of potential to go far. It is wrong that they should continue to be neglected and overlooked while local jobs are outsourced from elsewhere”.

Still, today, in one of London’s wealthiest boroughs, 29% of children in Kensington and Chelsea are living in poverty. “The inequality in our borough is grotesque”, says Thaxter, “and it is all our duty to take action to combat it.

“At the food bank I support those who are in need. These are families, fathers and mothers with small children, but no one is engaging with the main problem. We need to equip people and support the next generation,” says Thaxter, “having seen the lack of support, and the neglect which they have received over the years.”

Thaxter feels that not enough money from the Carnival flows down to the Caribbean community: “The Notting Hill Carnival creates £1bn for the economy. That is how much the Council makes, it charges up to £1,000 a stall. What about the people who started Carnival? We have nothing. The steel bands don’t even have anywhere to practice.”

Since Covid-19 people have lost jobs and St Helen’s ward has the highest level of universal credit application in the Borough. Following the trauma of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and then Covid-19, the children have had three years of education snatched from them. “These children have got a high catch up to do,” says Thaxter, “When you are looking at income, education, health, crime, living environment, we know that 60% of children in the borough are privately educated but many of the others [during the past months of lockdown] have suffered a significant detriment to their education, and this needs to be addressed so that it doesn’t affect their future. A lot of people are suffering locally. How is it in Kensington & Chelsea that people can’t afford to pay for their bills or even find food? How many of these people are being properly supported?” These are questions Thaxter is striving to provide answers to.

“The reason I am so passionate about the community”, she says, “is that I like to see people happy. If they’re not happy, I’m not happy”.