When I was younger I used to stand up to it all the time but that can be harder now, you don't always have the energy. One time an older lady fell over by the shops. I went to help her and she said " Get away from me" I went to pick up her bag and she said leave it alone, but she let the white people help her.

Another time I went to catch the last train home from Sheffield. The train was there but the guard just wouldn't let me through, even though he knew it was the last train home.

I was so angry. I had to call a friend and stay overnight. The next morning I got up and a white family at the station were so friendly to me, they sat chatting away and when I went to get my train the man's son came running after me and threw himself on me to give me a big hug. It's like they'd been sent to remind me there are lots of people out there who are not racist too. I know its because they are scared, afraid of what they don't know, with a head full of stereotypes. My family were the same, when I married my husband they said all the women in the UK are loose!