Dr Beverly Lindsay OBE, OD, was appointed the Vice Lord-Lieutenant for the West Midlands for a three-year term in 2017. Beverly is the founder and general manager of Diamond Travel, one of Birmingham’s leading independent travel agencies.

Beverly was born in St Thomas, Jamaica and came to Birmingham as a young teenager to complete her secondary education. She started her career in nursing and midwifery and after leaving nursing she worked as a Senior Community Worker in Handsworth Birmingham and later in financial services before establishing Diamond Travel in 1987.

Throughout her career, Beverly has always found time and energy to provide a selfless service to the development of her local community and her beloved country – Jamaica. Beverly is a celebrated mentor, champion and supporter of the African Caribbean community not only in Birmingham but throughout the UK and internationally. This work, alongside her success in business, has resulted in her receiving many awards in appreciation of her outstanding work and contribution to society, as well as two honorary doctorates from Aston University and Birmingham City University in 2017.

Beverly became a member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham in 1997 and served as President during 2012/13, the first African-Caribbean woman president in almost a hundred years history of the Rotary Club of Birmingham.  Beverly is a committed Christian and is a longstanding member of New Testament Church of God in Handsworth, Birmingham.

I am happy to report that the National and Birmingham Teams are happily settled into our new offices in Small Heath. They are definitely feeling like home and we are starting to get to know our neighbours and enjoyed meeting a few more at our first Open Afternoon Teas last week. Our next open Morning Tea is on Thursday 5th September (10:30 - 12:00) – please feel free to come along…we would love to welcome you and show you around.

Please note our new address and permanent landline number is:
172 Herbert Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B10 0PR
Telephone: 0121 213 1711

Over the summer, we would ask you to pray for all the young people that will be joining us for the 10 Days of Summer programme in Birmingham and for the Youth Encounters that will be occurring in Luton and Tower Hamlets. We look forward to sharing some stories of lives changed over the summer in our next newsletter.

Please also consider donating to our 10 for 10,000 Challenge via the link below, and help us reach even more young people.

When I was introduced to The Feast’s Guidelines for Dialogue it took me to the next level in my personal development; by using this in my sessions I automatically improved my inter-personal communication skills not only when working with teenagers from different backgrounds but also in every day conversations.  My time at The Feast also helped me understand the real challenges that teenagers go through when discovering their identity, whilst trying to live out their faith confidently at home, in school and the community.  What we do at the Feast is definitely vital in this day and age.

My experience doing Feast work in schools has given me the work ethic necessary to nurture teenagers into confident and resilient leaders of the next generation.  Every youth encounter with students has been memorable.  One of my most successful accomplishments was in my first year with The Feast, where I used the funding we won from Heart of England trust, to lead an inter-faith School Challenge day bringing together 60 students from four schools in the Aston, Lozells and Handsworth areas of Birmingham: King Solomon IBS, Broadway Academy, Eden Boys’ School and Handsworth Wood Girls’ School.

On the day, pupils were mixed into teams with students of other faiths, cultures and backgrounds and together they took part in a number of sports, games, quizzes and faith discussions and ended the day with an awards ceremony where they all received medals. Following this event, I was able to continue the relationship between the schools and students and was able to hold further activities with them throughout the year.  We repeated this event again including Nishkam High School earlier this year.

Another one of my favourite memories was the cross-cultural dance exchange event, where I got to combine my passion for performing arts with my infer-faith work.  I got students from my performing arts school G.A.P Academy to get involved and it was interesting to see the dynamics change as we introduced new dance styles and told them they would all be performing together on 17th May at Digbeth Banqueting Hall,The Feast Annual Spring Dinner.  Together the group trained in Ballet, Hip-hop, Bhangra, Afrobeat, Contemporary and Liturgical dance and performed a spectacular piece together highlighting all their different skills.  They also wrote and performed poems based on their own faith and Identity.  That was a very proud moment for me. 

I am very grateful that I get to work at The Feast; not only have the team helped me in my personal life but they have also supported my work with G.A.P, giving me some valuable advice and helping me secure funding to help with my projects outside of The Feast.  Last year was also an amazing highlight for me as I had the privilege of being nominated by my managers Carolyn, Jill and Andrew, for ‘The Bringing People Together’ award, given by the Community Foundation.  I am so honoured to have won this award and been recognised for my work.  I am truly thankful for all the opportunities The Feast provides and it is a pleasure to work with such genuine people who love God and have heart for all people.