Wirral is home to a community of hundreds of families, many with links to the NHS.
The Malayalee community has grown in recent years, making the peninsula a significant outpost for the group, which originates from southern India. We met some of the people who've made Wirral home, and who shared the experiences and challenges they've faced – and how they come together to support one another.
“We are a nursing family.” These were the words of Sibi Sam Thottathil, describing both himself and his wife. The same could be said for much of the Malayalee community in Wirral.
Hundreds of people from a Malayalee background live on the peninsula, and that number has grown significantly in response to calls for help with NHS staffing. The Wirral Malayalee Community organisation, based at charity Wirral Change in Birkenhead, has 170 member families. The group told the ECHO that over 90% of their local member families work for the National Health Service.
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The Wirral community was formed in 2021 when many people from the Indian state of Kerala migrated to the UK in response to the government’s initiative to address staffing shortages within the NHS. Joshy Joseph, 51, is the President of the Wirral Malayalee Community and has lived in Wirral since 2006 when his wife started working for the NHS. In the beginning, Joshy described how some members of the community experienced racial abuse.
He now works as a taxi driver, and described an incident where a couple refused to get into his car. Joshy told the ECHO how in the wake of that incident members of the public in the Wirral supported him and called out the couple on their treatment of Joshy.
Joshy said: “There are very good people, especially in the Wirral. It is a good place to live.”
Sibi Sam Thottathil, 43, is the community secretary and came to the UK two years ago. Speaking about his time in the Wirral, Sibi said “I have a feeling like I am home. I love this place.”
Both he and his wife are nurses. Sibi was originally a healthcare assistant and then he followed a UK government pathway to become a registered nurse. He is grateful for the career growth he has experienced in the health service.
Sibi described community organising as his “passion”. He said: “It is in my blood. I want to do something for the community and society. I am very happy now because I can contribute to society.”
Regular events are held by the community for people of all nationalities and cultures in the Wirral, including a popular recent Bonfire Night celebration.
Sibi said this was his favourite event to work on because people from all different cultures gathered from across the Wirral to watch the fireworks together. He said the Malayalees received a fabulous welcome from the wider community.
More recently, the organisation held a Christmas and New Year celebration attended by Wirral Mayor Cllr Gerry Williams. In his opening speech, the mayor thanked Malayalees for their services to the NHS.
The Mayor also released a calendar which marks significant dates in both British and Malayalee culture, such as Mother’s Day and Onam – an annual harvest and cultural festival celebrated by the people of Kerala.
Linson Livingston, aged 39, loves Onam because of the opportunity to wear the traditional Keralite dress and the Indian dancing that comes with it. Onam is a traditional Hindu festival, and the community hosts events for all the three main religions of the Malayalee community which are Christianity, Hinduism and Islam.
At their last Onam event over 500 people attended from across the Wirral. Linson told the ECHO how each guest gets 28 to 30 courses all served on a banana leaf. “All are my favourite”, Linson joked when asked to pick the best course served.
Preparations for the event this year are also well under way, with the Wirral Malayalee Community website promising Onam 2024 to be a “day filled with warmth, joy, and the rich tapestry of Kerala’s culture. Whether you’re a part of the Malayali community or simply interested in experiencing the beauty of Onam, this event is for you.”
Not only does the Wirral community host significant cultural events, they also offer help and guidance to Malayalee people migrating to the Wirral from Kerala. They host seminars about getting used to life in Britain where they explain things like how to call the police, and what it is like driving in the UK.
Alex Perekkayil Thomas, 35, has lived in the Wirral for a year. He and his wife have a one-month-old baby and they both moved here to work in the NHS as nurses.
The Wirral Malayalee Community helped Alex when he was struggling after making such a huge life change and settling in Merseyside.
Alex said: “When I came from a different country, I missed my home, I missed my family, I missed my community.” He came across the Wirral Malayalee Community unexpectedly and has been a key part of it ever since.
Local people from the Wirral also played a big part in making him feel welcome.
He added: “When I first came to England I was always thinking about India, my culture, missing my family, so I didn’t have a smile on my face. Wirral people would come and ask me, 'are you okay?'
“These people are bothered about other people and they want other people to be happy. They ask, ‘are you alright, do you want any help?’ The people I have met in this country want to help other people.”
The Malayalee community on the Wirral also helped Lasitha Chacko George, 38, when she first came to live there 4 years ago. Lasitha is grateful for the community who helped her to find a house and a job for her husband.
Lasitha organizes the community’s Women’s Forum, which has nearly 50 members. She likes to be very socially active with the community and Joshy describes her as the executive member who “gets all the girls together”.
Before she joined the executive of the Wirral Malayalee Community, Lasitha attended fitness classes with women at the charity Wirral Change. The charity provides a range of services to support disadvantaged Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities in Wirral.
Lasitha wanted to help get more Keralite women active for both their physical and mental health.
She said: “As nurses we always have stress and a big workload. If we stay at home with kids, we are looking after kids and doing household work. This community is helping women to actively participate in something. We make dance programmes and we try to keep active with Zumba and yoga for our physical and mental health.”
Lasitha works nights as a nurse, and her husband works as a food delivery driver. She says they need the flexibility of the jobs, as when she is sleeping, he can look after the children.
Manoj Thomas, 50, has lived in the Wirral for 21 years and is part of one of the first Malayalee families to migrate to the peninsula. He has a background in finance and came to the Wirral with his wife who works as a nurse.
Manoj told the ECHO how he resigned from his job to take care of their new baby girl, explaining: “When my daughter was born, I decided to resign from my job. That is a good decision I took, I think, because I didn’t want her (his wife) to leave her job. I started as a taxi driver. That was the best thing because I could take care of my family, my kids, my wife as well.”
Manoj is Joshy’s neighbour, and he fondly nicknames the roundabout at the end of their road “Joshy’s roundabout.”
As the finance officer for the Wirral Malayalee Community, Manoj is responsible for sourcing funds from sponsorship, many of which come from local Wirral businesses. He told the ECHO that he is also approaching Wirral council for grants. Manoj feels that the Wirral Malayalee Community is now “mingled” with British culture.
The feeling of cultures overlapping and being shared is also felt by Binoy John, 50, who is the sports coordinator for the Wirral Malayalee Community.
Binoy told the Echo how the day after he arrived in the Wirral, Joshy took him to the Amathus Dragon Boat Club boat race. He was soon involved with the rowing club, a sport he had never tried before but soon fell in love with.
Binoy said that they now “win almost every competition in the UK”, and that eight members of the community participate in the rowing World Cup. He said that some members are trying to join the British national team, with his two children also hoping to get involved with Olympic trials.
“We are all sports people!” he says with a laugh.
This is a community that certainly likes to keep busy, and right now they are organising a dance contest to be held in February, where a £1,000 prize is on offer.
But these events are as much about celebrating the Malayalee community on the Wirral as they are about reaching out to other groups and cultures – including the locals who have made them feel so welcome.
Alex adds: “We want all people to get involved. We want people to engage with Wirral Malayalee Community.”
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