Lifetime Achievement: Anjna Patel MBE

Anjna Patel was born in a remote village in Uganda and left with her family in the 1970s just prior to the expulsions of Asians. Stateless, it took five years before her family were able to settle in the UK, where, being the eldest of five girls, she took responsibility for supporting her family.

Despite the relocations coming at key points in her formal education and the challenge of learning English at the age of 18, she funded her own education taking evening classes towards personal and professional development. With her fluency in Hindi and Gujarati and her newly acquired English Anjna was able to support the work of the police by acting as an interpreter for many years.

Thwarted from a career with the police, because of her height, she has put her energy and commitment to a career, spanning 34 years, in road safety and parking. She started her career as a traffic warden, progressively working up from road safety officer going into schools teaching children to now performing beyond her designated role as principal officer (road safety and parking) at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.

In addition to undertaking her paid duties, in her own time she participates in professional bodies, committees and management boards associated with the parking profession. As a result of her son joining the army and subsequently training as an officer at Sandhurst, Patel established a charity, Parasol, which raises funds to support injured military personnel and their families. Her fundraising activities include golf days and sponsored walks, which despite the onset of rheumatoid arthritis she participates in herself. To date the charity has raised close to £100,000, with all of the money raised going toward buying specialist rehabilitation equipment and to support families of injured soldiers.

In recognition of her contributions to parking and for her charity work, in 2017 she was placed on the Queen’s Birthday Honours List and subsequently awarded an MBE. She has recently been made a fellow of the British Parking Association (BPA). Other achievements include being named Parking Person of the Year at the British Parking Awards 2007.

She served as president of the BPA in 2012-2013, the first person of colour and only the second woman to fill this office. Patel has been a member of local, national and regional groups including: chairing the BPA professional standards board, writing the standards by which all civil enforcement officers are monitored; working group for consistency of Blue Badge policies throughout the EU; chairing the Midlands regional group; and, as a director of the BPA, she promotes Britain and parking excellence beyond the UK. Patel has also been heavily involved in raising profile of Women in Parking, as well as supporting and mentoring many female colleagues through their careers.

Andrew Pester, BPA chief executive, said: “Anjna Patel MBE is a leading ambassador for our sector and has dedicated herself to raising standards and professionalism. She uses her incredible passion and expertise to help shape our parking landscape and continuously drives forward standards. She always leads with integrity and encourages everyone to think outside the box and stretch their imagination in finding new innovations.”