Robina Shah is the first female British-Pakistani high sheriff in the UK.
A consultant psychologist in her 50s, she has used her one-year honorary role to promote young people. From day one, she enlisted police cadets as her ceremonial sword-bearers when she was sworn in as high sheriff for Greater Manchester.
“I’ve been able to highlight our young people and the need to invest in them to help them grow,” she says. “I want Greater Manchester’s policymakers to listen to our youth and to involve them in strategy-making in those areas that concern them most: healthcare, work and crime prevention.”
To this end, Shah set up Team High Sheriff – a platform for 15- to 25-year-old handpicked “ambassadors” to promote the voice and communal involvement of their peers. They discuss their worries, priorities and aspirations with older ambassadors and together work towards change. It also connects young people with employers, counsellors and trainers.
At Team High Sheriff’s November 2018 event, IT service management company, UKFast, offered 100 apprenticeships.
“Team High Sheriff is my baby,” says Shah, “and with the support of Mayor Andy Burnham’s Meet Your Future campaign, I intend to keep it going after my term of office ends next month.”
More traditionally, as befits a royal appointment, she has spent her year, as one of 55 high sheriffs or “shire-keepers”, supporting the crown by holding events for the local judiciary, police, prison and emergency services, as well as the voluntary sector, and fostering community cohesion. “It’s a privilege and pleasure letting our public servants, our volunteers and their families know their work and unsociable hours aren’t taken for granted,” she says.
Like all high sheriffs, she is expected to adapt the role to her own experiences, skill sets and attitudes. “Psychosocial medicine is my specialism. We explore how circumstances shape the individual. If you have less access to things than others, you may, unfortunately, assume this makes you a lesser person. However, your identity is not just formed by what you do or don’t have, but by how you are with others. Whether rich or poor, you need a value base. If I can infuse my passion, if I can inspire young people to develop and value themselves rather than compare themselves with others, they will realise they are fine.”
As director of Manchester University medical school’s Doubleday Centre for Patient Experience – where patients, carers and members of the public interested in medical education provide input into training doctors – Shah is a natural facilitator. She believes in teamwork, partnerships, hearing people out and connecting individuals who would never normally meet. Above all, she is intent on bridging social and generational gaps.
“I want to bring out what is attractive in all members of society,” she says.
She has had a 20-year career in the NHS, and her professional and social networks range from the health sector to higher education and industry to football. She sees shared learning, valuing others and enriching their lives purposefully as the way forward.
Shah is proud of her Muslim heritage and the values-based humanitarian beliefs her family instilled in her from childhood. But this quietly spoken mover and shaker is circumspect about being see as a role model for other Muslim women.
She says: “I don’t particularly relish being seen as a role model. There are many, many Robinas in every minority who, through hard work, can chase their own dream and break the glass ceiling. They should just go for it.”
Curriculm vitae
Lives: Stockport.
Family: Married, three children.
Education: Whalley Range high school, Manchester; University of Manchester, degree in psychology, doctorate in psychosocial medicine.
Career: 2014-present: director, University of Manchester’s medical school’s Doubleday Centre for Patient Experience; 2012-present: senior lecturer, University of Manchester’s medical school; 2004-present: consultant psychologist; 1985-2001: community psychologist academic research into health and social care strategy and policy, including consultation skills and disclosure practice.
Public life: High sheriff, Greater Manchester; deputy lieutenant, Greater Manchester; non-executive director, Manchester Football Association; non-executive director, FA’s women’s football board and FA’s disability football committee; 2000-12: chair, Stockport NHS foundation trust; 2003: awarded an MBE in recognition of her academic research into the lived experience of disabled children and their carers.
Interests: Reading, and writing poetry and children’s stories.
