Marilyn Mansfield-Clark said she was “overwhelmed” and “had to pinch herself” when she found out she had been recognised for her work celebrating and promoting diversity in Crawley, as well as her support of many other organisations, in the New Years Honours List.
She will be telling her family about her honour tonight.
“To be recognised at this level is unbelievable,” said Marilyn, who has six grandchildren.
“It’s a little bit overwhelming but very very nice.
“I hope I’m inspiring my family and the community.”
The 66-year-old co-founded the Crawley Black History Foundation with the aim of promoting and bringing positive attention to African and Caribbean culture and to combat negative perceptions of the African and Caribbean community.
Marilyn, who became a British Red Cross volunteer at the age of 11, decided to create the organisation after her experience moving to Crawley from Zimbabwe in 1990.
She said she noticed there were not many things for Afro-Caribbean people in the town.
In 2017, she re-founded the organisation as Diverse Crawley and is its current chairwoman, leading a committee comprising members from 12 different cultures.
The newly retired nurse also initiated a school resources pack as part of the calendar so that local schools can organise their own cultural activities with Diverse Crawley’s support.
Marilyn’s proudest moment though was helping to hand out food packages to people in Crawley during the Covid pandemic.
“There was so much unemployment and we were worried about the amount of hungry people,” she said.
“So we started giving out food parcels from Crawley Museum every week.”
She did this with members of the Gatwick Seventh Day Adventist Church for three years.
Marilyn said she will carry on her community work “until the end”.
“I can’t see myself stopping,” she said.
“I wake up and think what am I doing today?”
The mum of two, who is also currently serving as a West Sussex deputy lord lieutenant, is not the only person to be honoured in her household. Marilyn’s husband Peter was given an MBE in 2014 for his work with the Samaritans and the homeless, including his role in the opening of Crawley Open House, which provides support for people suffering the effects of homelessness, unemployment, loneliness, discrimination and other forms of social exclusion.
Marilyn said it was a lovely thing to share and has thanked the person who nominated her for the honour.
“I want to thank whoever nominated me I’m so honoured,” she said.
“It was completely unexpected.
“I would like to ask people to keep on being kind to people in the community.”
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