Audrey Allwood

Dr Audrey Allwood is an author, speaker, lecturer, health and well-being specialist, and anthropologist of Caribbean migration and belonging.

Speaker, Audrey Allwood is currently Associate Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is an authority on Caribbean migration, specialising in inter-generational kinship and genealogy and the on the contribution to culture, belonging, and legacy in British society today. Audrey has managed services in housing, substance misuse, mental health and advocacy in local authorities, the voluntary sector and in community settings. She has led large scale change projects leading on community engagement managing service change and improvement in NHS Trusts. Audrey is also a speaker on mental health, and delivered the Drug Awareness Training Workshop for Croydon Council in 2020.

Audrey has collaborated with Age UK Lambeth and secured grant awards to deliver important community engagement projects. Most recently she has authored Windrush Generations Trades People showcasing twelve stories of people working in the trades from accomplished tailor to apprentice builder and launched in Black History Month 2021.

Audrey was a keynote speaker at the Home Office Windrush Day celebration and for Blueprint for All within Black History Month in 2021, speaking on community engagement and the legacy of Windrush migrants in British society.

Dr Allwood published her doctoral research Belonging in Brixton: An Ethnography of Migrant West Indian Elders in Brixton, London (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020) investigating migration, settlement and integration experiences from an inter-generation perspective. Audrey contributed to a radio programme about Caribbean migration in Brixton, London on gentrification and social change, for ABC Radio National Australia in 2020.

Celebrating her Caribbean heritage Audrey has an interest in genealogy, and led workshops on Family Tree Making in 2020. She is also involved in a collaborative project, on Caribbean Mothering at Goldsmiths, University of London and leads a podcast and collected stories of personal experiences, further examining inter-generation exchange, social and cultural adaptation.

Examining the current pandemic on the Caribbean community, Audrey undertook the research survey Covid-19 Caribbean Community Health and Well-being Survey with Croydon BME Forum in 2020 providing a report and recommendations on how the community manage well-being. Audrey’s interest in well-being builds upon her work in the mental health sphere, managing services at MIND and providing support to young homeless people, when she devised the Walk with Audrey’coaching programme for people with emotional concerns in 2015. She then piloted it with Certitude, the national mental health organisation in 2016 in Brixton, London. In 2017 Audrey became certified to teach Mindful Meditation by the Complementary Medical Association, and has delivered workshops in local communities to manage stress and make changes.

Dr Audrey Allwood’s speaking includes:

• Diversity and Inclusion
• Windrush and Generations
• Mental Health and Well-being
• Strategic Planning and Change Management
• Motivational Speaking – sharing diverse experiences and overcoming adversity

Dr Audrey Allwood is great fun as a speaker, highly informed and an excellent choice for Black History Month 2022.