By Liezel Longboan
Hi! I’m Liezel Longboan, founder and editor of Tinig UK, a non-profit community media enterprise serving Filipinos in Britain. My son Owen and I are running the Green Park Reading 3K mini-marathon on 2nd June to raise funds for Tinig UK so we can continue to tell the untold stories of UK Filipinos (estimated around 300,000).
To donate to our fundraising, click here.
How it all started
Tinig (tee-nig) is a Filipino word which means “voice” in English. As an immigrant, I found it difficult for many years to speak up at work or in social settings despite my experience and education. But Covid-19 changed that.
At the height of the pandemic, Filipino healthcare workers had the highest number of deaths in the NHS. But no one was looking into their plight.
With my journalism training, I started Tinig UK to tell the untold stories of Filipinos who were dying during the pandemic. Thanks to a small grant from Internews and the support of many volunteers, we launched our website in August 2020. I have found my voice once again through journalism.
Our work is making an impact
Here’s a small list of the wonderful things we have achieved in the last four years, thanks to the contributions of our volunteers:
We have mentored at least 25 interns – mostly from ethnic minority backgrounds – who have learned skills in journalism, marketing, web and graphic design.
“Writing for Tinig UK helped me understand what it feels like to be a minority in a country and how you would want your stories to be heard by others.” Aman Singh, journalism intern, Bournemouth University
We have legal advice and parenting columns that specifically address the concerns of the Filipino community.
We recently covered domestic violence and what women – and men – can do to get help.
We were the first to organise a professional and business networking event for Filipino women in Britain.
We were the first news outlet to raise the issue of the lack of robust data about Filipino nurses in the NHS during Covid. We were also the first to cover the inclusion of the Filipino ethnic category in the NHS staff record.
We have written a series of articles looking into the experiences of Filipino domestic workers trafficked into the UK. Despite having been abused by their overseas employers, they are penalised by the Home Office, many of them becoming undocumented in the process.
We have been featuring Filipino authors, artists, businesses, and events, celebrating our culture, and making them visible to a wider audience. Explore our website and know more about Filipinos in Britain.
Your donation can change lives
Help us continue the important work that we do. Your donation will allow us to continue building the confidence and skills of the community we serve through our mentoring programme, our authoritative articles, and the events we organise.
You can donate to our fundraising by clicking here.
