I’m Abayomi Dada – also known as Abbay. A data and insight analyst with more than 15 years’ experience across different sectors and businesses in and outside the UK. My years of experience in the UK have seen me work across major charities in the UK in role capacities such as insight analyst, senior insight analyst, and data insight and analysis manager. Currently, I work as a sales campaign and commission analyst for one of the UK’s oldest brands in the postal and courier services.
I’m a black British, born in Nigeria but migrated to the UK with my wife and two children in 2007. I graduated with an MBA from the University of Northampton in 2010.
HOW THE JOURNEY STARTED
I grew up in Nigeria under the care of my grandmother having lost my mum when I was just 3 years old. I didn’t have the luxury of growing up with my parents but was lucky to have such a loving grandmother who exemplifies a life of sacrifice to help others. Growing up, community spirit has always been entrenched in my upbringing. I grew up in a small community where we had opportunities to help one another such as helping the elderly in the community with a few basic chores after school, and volunteering as boys brigade in the church, among others.
I’m so passionate about supporting children, especially those going through challenges. Throughout my early years in the UK, that passion has driven me to support charities such as Save the Children and the British Red Cross, either through voluntary monthly donations or participating in fundraising activities for the charities. Due to this passion, my first four years of a professional role in the UK were dedicated to working across various charities and helping them maximise their fundraising capabilities through insights and analytics, despite the lure of working in a profit-making-oriented organisation after the completion of my studies in the UK.
THE DESIRE TO DO MORE
I’ve always volunteered in my local community by volunteering in RCCG UK – a Christian charity, helping youth from our communities to maximise their potentials– but the turn around and the need to do more came during the Covid-19 crisis. The lockdown period provided a challenge of how to help families, especially children, stuck at home due to the Covid restrictions.
Using my analytics background and working with some members of the charities, I was responsible for designing online programmes and lessons that could be introduced to keep people, especially children, engaged during this challenging period. This led us to design programmes across different family segments such as the children, young people, couples, single parents, and the elderly in our community. To ensure a wider reach, we had to engage via online platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet.
I was also responsible for mobilising a team of different volunteers to champion the programmes such as weekend online painting and design lessons for children, instrument training for young people and picking up necessities for people under quarantine. Through this opportunity, I gained valuable insights into some of the challenges that families go through when things go wrong.
Having helped some families in the church community to navigate this difficult period, I was very happy when the opportunity to join the magistracy came. I thought this was a perfect opportunity for me to serve and help my wider community using my time and some of my past experiences while learning from others.
THE JOURNEY SO FAR
I sit on the Thames Valley family bench as a winger, and it’s really been an exciting journey. I’ve been able to work with magistrates from different backgrounds and a wealth of experiences. I tend to work across all the magistrates’ courts in the Thames Valley Area and must admit that no matter the court I sit in, the magistrates have come across as very friendly, welcoming, knowledgeable, supportive, and always ready to work with me as a team member.
I love my role as a magistrate, and I sincerely don’t find it challenging combining it alongside my paid employment, other voluntary roles, and family commitments. In fact, I’m always looking forward to my court days, as they offer me the rare opportunity to get away from the laptops and data-related issues and have face-to-face contact with real people from different backgrounds, with real-life issues, who I can relate to.
The joy of leaving the court after each sitting with the feeling that I’ve contributed positively to issues that have a direct and positive impact on individuals and families in my community, is something that I find personally fulfilling. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this role to anyone who is still thinking about it.
