John Raghoobar - Mayor of Dolgellau, North Wales

“I was wearing a black suit and white shoes. It was quite something in those days! I remember it was snowing when I arrived. I had never seen snow before”

- John Paul Raghoobar, 

John Paul Raghoobar is from Sangre Grande in Trinidad. He came to Britain in 1963 alone by plane at just thirteen years old. He has fond memories of his childhood in Trinidad and thought it was a wonderful place to grow up. He was sent to Britain by members of his family to join his older brother in London to further his education in the hopes that he would have a prosperous future in the UK. He arrived in London Heathrow airport on Sunday 6^th October, before starting school the following morning in London.

“I was wearing a black suit and white shoes. It was quite something in those days! I remember it was snowing when I arrived. I had never seen snow before”

After two years at his brother’s home in London in an unhappy home, he decided to leave at the age of 16. He had various different jobs in London in the East End where he enjoyed his time. He recalls having had a lot of help and support from the East Enders and truly felt accepted by the people.

“I loved being a teenager in London in the sixties. It was exciting, you never knew what was going to happen next. There was good music, good vibes. It was the summer of love. 

Following this, John joined the Army in July 1969 with the Royal Tank Regiment. His first posting was to Hohne Barracks in Bergen Belsen, a camp used during the Second World War by the Germans to control Bergen Belsen concentration camp twenty-five years previously.

“My visits to the camp are something I will never be able to forget. It stays with you for life, I could not get over how low the human race can get.” 

During his time in the army, he travelled Germany Belgium and Cyprus. He first came to Wales in 1970 for 10 days as a part of recreational exercise with the army. The recreational exercise brought John to the rural town of Dolgellau. After completing his year left of service in the Army, he then returned to Dolgellau and got married in 1971. He was demobilised from the army in July 1972 and then moved to North Wales, where he settled. He went on to have a family and two children, who both went to Welsh schools and grew up bilingually.

“I feel I had a good reception in North Wales. I didn’t really encounter any verbal racism. It was a welcoming community, there were no negative vibes”.

On leaving the army, his first job was as a driver for the Department of the Environment, Where he worked during the recommission of Tonfannau Camp in readiness to receive Ugandan Asian refugees expelled from Uganda by General Idi Amin. The job lasted for a year during which he supported the refugees in their re- settlement.

“I’ll never forget the look of the people, they were so lost. They came from a tropical country to the freezing coast of North Wales. It can’t have been a pleasant sight to be greeted with. We tried our best to ensure they were as comfortable and welcome as possible.”

Despite being told he would never get into the town council as he was not considered a ‘local’ and did not speak fluent Welsh, John decided to put an application in to join after finding out he would be entitled to translation services. He was elected to the Southern ward of the town council, un-opposed, and joined the council as a town councillor in 2004.

“I learnt a lot from my time in the council, about the town and the community. He has great respect for the Welsh language. I want to engage with the community as much as possible. I wasn’t happy with certain things in the community, so I decided to get up and do something about it”. 

During his time in the council, he has made significant contributions to life in Dolgellau as we know it. Along with other members of the community, he campaigned for two new roundabouts on the local bypass. He felt it was important to take a stand to ensure road safety in the area. John also took part in campaigning to get lottery funding for the local park for the children of Dolgellau. The campaign was successful, and the community received a park fit for purpose which is well maintained and incredibly popular a decade later. John has also been a member of the Theatre and Drama Community, the amateur dramatic society in Dolgellau since 1982. Together, they put on numerous productions, pantomimes and plays in the town, which have been very popular. The group also raised to purchase a presbyterian chapel which was turned into community theatre – Theatre Fach in Dolgellau. The group then left the community and formed their own company – Springfield Street Productions.

John was elected unopposed as the Mayor of Dolgellau in May 2021. He is the first person of colour ever to become the Mayor of Dolgellau and also the first member of the Windrush Generation to become Mayor of the town. As a part of his mayor duties, he has attended talks, meetings and has volunteered at covid vaccine centres in the town during the last two years of the pandemic.

John regularly keeps in touch with fellow members of the Windrush generation in Britain and is a supporter of the West Indian Association of Service Personnel. He is a very proud parent and grandparent and enjoys cooking Caribbean and West Indian food for his family.

“I have suffered from Chronic Psoriasis all my life – it has caused a lot of pain, discomfort and insecurity in my life, but is has not stopped me from moving forward and serving my community. The community is important to me. I think the only cure for racism is integration. It’s about being a part of the community. All you need is a little bit of imagination to cheer the community up and truly make a difference.”