Karen Clarke sits like a rock in a storm as dozens of boisterous children clamour for her attention. She calls for quiet, helping 13-year-old Moises Guilherme to settle and focus on his science homework and then turns to the next eager face.
The children call her “Miss Karen” or “Hoyo”, meaning “mum” in Somali, and she is indeed like a strict but loving second mother to many of the children who attend her Oaktree after-school club on the South Acton Estate.
Most of the children come from immigrant families where English is not their first language, though in the instance of Moises, a well-spoken young man with half a dozen merit badges adorning his blazer, you'd never guess.
“My mum is French, my step-dad is Angolan, and when I came to London as a five-year-old I couldn't speak a word of English,” he says. “Miss Karen is the one who taught me to read, write and speak English and now,” he adds proudly, “I'm an A-grade student.”
None of the 140 children — aged eight to 13 — who attend this buzzing club are old enough to know about the personal tragedy that drove the 48-year-old single mother to take it on in the first place. Fourteen years ago, her 16-year-old son Okera was knifed to death by a teenager while he was playing in the street with friends. Ms Clarke, who was completing a psychology course at Thames Valley University and also raising her four younger children, then aged one to 14, tried to cope with her loss by volunteering to help at her estate's after-school club.
Four years later, she heard that the club faced closure due to lack of funds and decided to apply for grants and take it on.
“I do it because I love it, but also, very privately, in memory of Okera to give these kids a safe place to go and steer them away from trouble,” says Ms Clarke. “If not for us, they could be getting up to no good. Our job is to keep them focused and nip the problem in the bud.”
But this year the club, which costs £15,000 a year to run, is facing hard times. A £5,000 funding deficit meant they would have to shut down for three months or reduce their current three-day after-school schedule (Monday to Wednesday) to two days.
The Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund is plugging the gap with a £5,000 grant to ensure that the club is able to continue.
“Londoners have done a great thing in so generously supporting the Dispossessed Fund,” says Ms Clarke. “The vision behind it is brilliant: helping little people like myself help other little people — in this case, children — on a poor estate where most adults are unemployed and where there is nothing for the kids to do.”
As a teaching assistant at the local Berrymede Junior School, Ms Clarke is well equipped to know what's expected of them. Recently, though, she has expanded her brief to help more than just young children. She also offers the practical component of an NVQ for half a dozen unemployed young adult volunteers.
Malikah Charles, 21, is doing a one-year NVQ in childcare and play at City of Islington College and is her close aide. “I've lived all my life on this estate and came to this club as a child myself,” says Malikah. “I made loads of friends here and it kept us on the straight and narrow. Three years ago I started to work with Karen to get work experience and I liked it so much that it's made me pursue a career working with children.”
Helping children who struggle with English to get better grades is hugely satisfying, she adds, pointing to Moises, a prefect and form captain.
Moises says:
“I prefer to be in here than out on the estate where it can get dangerous after dark. But also, I love it here. I've known Miss Karen a long time. She's more than a teacher to me and she's become a close friend to the family.”
Other 12-year-old children talk with great appreciation about how “Miss Karen” got them into their respective high schools, filling out their forms and helping them negotiate the system.
“The parents ask me where I think their children should go,” says Ms Clarke. “And because I know their children and the range of schools on offer, I am able to match them up and they take my advice and trust me.” She smiles and says: “These kids can be hard work, but they sure make me laugh. I try not to think about the past, but in my more reflective moments, I like to think that I'm preventing other parents from having to go through the heartbreaking loss and trauma that I suffered.”