Lifetime Achievement
Sponsored by the Academy for Sustainable Communities
Winner: Sybil Phoenix MBE
Sybil is an African Caribbean community leader who has been working with the communities of Lewisham for half a century. She has, and continues to be, instrumental in building community cohesion in one of the toughest multicultural landscapes in Britain.
Sybil, who celebrates her 80th birthday this year, has chaired or been a committee member of over 200 organisations and is also a Methodist Minister, qualified counsellor and former Mayor of Lewisham. She is known in the community as someone who can be approached for help and that she will deliver this through any means available. She is an immense asset to the community, someone they trust and to whom they can confide, a constant, not impacted by change in political agendas.
Sybil founded Britain's first black youth club, the Moonshot club, in Deptford in the mid 1970s and to the current day works tirelessly in race relations in the Borough of Lewisham, helping to resolve issues such as the ‘stop and search' controversy. She is used as touchstone in the local community by the statutory services. For example, the Police turn to her for advice and assistance over issues affecting the black community, including gun crime and gang culture.
As the first black woman in Britain to be awarded an MBE, Sybil provides inspiration and is a true role model for the black community in Britain. A snapshot of Sybil's ingenuity, humility and selflessness was highlighted when she inquired whether her MBE could be traded in to help the homeless and thus the Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust was formed. Named after her daughter who died in a car crash in 1972, Sybil established this supported housing project for homeless teenagers. Over the past 27 years the trust has provided a lifeline for hundreds of young women. Sybil pioneered the ‘foyer' model with housing and education under one roof, under the belief that education is the route out of deprivation.
Sybil's work does not begin and end with distinct projects such as the youth club and the trust. In between she has been the passion and energy behind community street parties, fundraising for schools in post-hurricane Grenada, and the opening of schools in her native Guyana. Sybil takes assemblies in local schools, founded the Methodist Church Race Awareness training programme, and established Turning Point, a social and community work training scheme at Goldsmith's College.
By any definition, Sybil is a remarkable woman. She demonstrates an unwavering tenacity and commitment to go that extra mile. As an individual she has been a driving force through her leadership and she has been a true inspiration. To those she works for and with, Sybil has created a winning culture, at the heart of which is love, old-fashioned values, pragmatism and, beyond all else, the belief that everyone deserves a second chance.
