Anil Ranchod’s childhood experience of injustice under an apartheid-style government influenced his adult choice of career. He found he could best channel his energies by fighting injustice in the charity health sector. Meet Anil, the Deputy Director of PR and Communications at the Stroke Association.
Background
Anil was born in Bulawayo Zimbabwe, with an interesting mix of parents. “My father is Gujarati Indian and my mother is a mix of South African Cape Malay and white British,” he says. Anil Ranchod grew up under the Rhodesian 'apartheid’ system – white minority rule. He remembers; “one of my earliest memories was not being allowed to go to the cinema because it was ‘whites-only’. I remember being upset and questioning my mum repeatedly about why we couldn’t go in when other children were allowed to. On the whole, I had a happy childhood, but that one incident has stuck with me. We were not allowed to mix with white kids or black kids, we were forced to mix with our ‘own’, not by choice.”
Anil Ranchod studied up to A’Levels. “I wanted to go to university, but unfortunately we couldn’t afford it. So I got a job working in a bank and in 1990 I left for London.” He did lots of different temporary jobs before securing a sales manager role which involved setting up and managing a small mail-order business in 1991.
Trajectory to 2017
Anil was made redundant in 1993 from that company and a friend of his managed to get him a temp role at the SPCC for six weeks. During that time the job was advertised and he got the role as Marketing Assistant. He believes that this was a pivotal moment in his career. “I love the impact that I’m having; because I believe we’re making a real difference. `We’re saving lives, we’re changing lives. One of the main reasons for working in the charity sector is that I abhor injustice. Working in charities gives me the chance to fight injustice for our beneficiaries in a small but significant way,” he comments.
Why did Anil get involved with the Stroke Association?
He tells us, “My best friend’s mother was a very tall, proud, noticeable woman and when she had her stroke in Zimbabwe, they didn’t have the medication or the treatments that she needed. She was left very severely disabled. It killed me inside and I never want to see anyone go through that.
“Stroke kills twice as many women as breast cancer and more men than prostate and testicular cancer combined. People of South Asian, Black African and Black Caribbean descent are twice as likely to have a stroke at a younger age than their white counterparts and it’s likely to be more debilitating then it would be for white people. We don’t know scientifically why, as there is no science or research to say it’s specifically any one thing. However many professionals attribute it to our lifestyles and our diet.”
Mini-strokes are dangerous
“A mini-stroke or TIA (transient ischaemic attack) is a warning sign that a major stroke is more likely to occur. However, the symptoms can last for anything from 15 minutes to 24 hours and then they go away. Recent research found that a third of all stroke survivors could develop dementia within five years of their stroke. There is some research that connects mini-strokes to dementia, but there still so much that we don’t know. The Stroke Association launched a campaign this May called ‘Change the Story’ to raise more money for stroke research.
Current levels of research funding equate to £48 for every stroke patient, compared to £241 per person with cancer and £118 per person with dementia. This is a major gap and we want to raise more funds for stroke research but we can’t do it alone. I’m inviting our communities to all take up the challenge, so that together we can conquer stroke.”
Finally, Anil tells us about the symptoms to watch out for, using the FAST test. “F - Face, look out at the person’s face, is it drooping on one side, ask them to smile. A – Arms, they might not be able to raise both arms or they might go numb. S – Speech, is their speech slurred? Are they able to say their names? If you recognise any ONE of those signs it’s T – Time to call 999. Our website is a great place for information www.stroke.org.uk.”
