Patsy Mckie, Mothers Against Violence: I was born in 1947 in St Kitts, West Indies; the real name for St Kitts is really St Christopher.
I set sail for the UK in July 1965. My dad was already here, both parents had came but Mum came back to the West Indies after a couple of years to be with the children. From being a child I had lived with my Gran, she had decided that I was best located with her, when she died I then lived with my Aunt. When I came to UK we came to Manchester and lived near the MRI Norwood Street, Chorlton on Medlock. I came when I was 18 years old, I wasn’t a child, and I was working by that time. My first job was taking boxes, they always seemed empty, and then covering them, and it was based in a basemen / cellar in Town, Faulkner Street.
On coming to UK; I loved it, it was bigger than the West Indies, I came in summer so that was nice. I didn’t expect anything, I just thought England was a nice place to be, I had seen it on postcards.
I am the Co-Founder and Founder of MAV – Mothers Against Violence. MAV started 1989 because of the gun crime in Manchester, shootings and young men actually shooting other young men. Even when I wasn’t aware in relation to why it was happening you would hear stories; it was drugs, guns that kind of thing. For me it was more than that, it was about people not knowing how to control themselves and do what’s right.
I would pray ‘lord help, what we can do to help change, so many young dying’. Then, one day my Son too was shot, then I had the pain. I heard about other people, but I didn’t know what they felt. My Son was 20 when he died.
It’s important to make the best choice, the wisest choice and always take opportunities. You can only fall down, you can always get up. What’s in your heart, there’s always something in your heart you want to do, if it’s there then you must do it.
One of the things I like to say to young people is ‘there is nothing you can’t do’. Once you get the right mind set, because it is our minds, it’s the way we think, we believe that takes us down any particular road, the choice is always yours, some people don’t think they have a choice, you do.
It’s always the choice you make that moves you into the direction you take.
