BBC’s Songs of Praise pays tribute to my mother, the late Revd Dr Io Smith

My mother was a fearless fighter

A tireless preacher, an imparter of the truth, a comforter of the wounded, a feeder of the hungry a champion of the marginalised and outcast of society and a mother to the motherless.

Mum was known as a vibrant, charismatic, and dynamic woman of God.  She loved all and this led to her successfully establishing a number of projects and initiatives that changed the lives of so many people.

Coming to the UK from the Island of Jamaica in the late 50’s my mother very quickly realised that for Black people, there were so many services that they could not access, including the Church.

Not one to just sit back, she got to work making a name for herself in the Church community, in education and local politics. Her work got her noticed and she was honoured with an MBE from the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The BBC captured her work and a snippet of her amazing life through an interview with me on Mothering Sunday. Click on the link to watch the episode from March 10th 2024. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001x7hv.