Female born in Pakistan 1980s

She was born in the 1980s in Pakistan and moved to Buckingham from Saudi Arabia ten months before the interview (i.e. late 2023). The move was made because her daughter had got a place at the university there and, not being a driver, she needed to be close to places of education for her three children. She is a full-time mother.

Her first impression of Milton Keynes was that it reminded her of the cities she’d lived in in Saudi Arabia with the tall buildings and roundabouts. She visits Milton Keynes about once a week for shopping, for her children to hang out, and to eat out – Nando’s in Stadium Road and Slim Chicken in Xscape being favourites. The city brings on nostalgia for the 17 years she spent in Saudi Arabia – apart from the greenery and the weather.

A frightening early experience was a drunk using bad language towards her and her children when they were changing buses in Milton Keynes. Other people were helpful and nothing like it happened again. She still uses the buses.

She uses the shopping centre and the hospital, but not the green spaces. After three months of not meeting anyone from a similar background in Buckingham, she joined Truby’s and now takes part in tea parties, walks, bicycle events and other gatherings.

She hadn’t heard of Islamic Arts & Heritage or the Interfaith group. She travels to family in the north for Eid.