Pioneer of race relations in West dies at age of 92

A woman who was a founding member of the Bristolbased anti-racism charity SARI has died at the age of

92.

Maya Bahra, from Bath, pictured, also played a part in setting up Easton Community Centre in Bristol, and other support groups and centres in Bath.

Tributes have been paid to the 92-year-old, who was described as being “ahead of her time” in race relations. She married Gurdayal Singh Bahra, who died in 2008, and together they were one of the first Asian families in Bath when they moved to the UK from India in 1953.

Mother to three girls, Indra, Kanta and Usha, and a son, Nicholas, Mrs Bahra was a “compassionate” woman. She had a part in setting up Easton Community Centre, a Bath carers centre and Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens’ Association (BEMSCA).

She was one of the founding members of the charity Stand Against Racism and Inequality – SARI – which is now one of the leading organisations supporting victims of racist incidents and attacks in the West of England.

Alex Raikes, from Sari, said: “She was a woman who was ahead of her time. She was a Sikh, older woman, who was full of humour. She was wise, compassionate and passionate about equality.”

She was rewarded for her tireless work in the community with an invitation to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party in 1997.

A former chair of SARI, Esther Deans MBE, told the BBC Mrs Bahra came from a “generation of changemakers such as Roy Hackett and Barbara Detterin”.