After spending his early years in a two-bedroom house shared by two families, Khaled Rahman is still getting to grips with the impact being South-East Asian in an economically disadvantaged neighbourhood has had on his upbringing.
“With hindsight, being in a deprived area and struggling with prejudice and racism didn’t make it easy, but as a child that was normal to me.
“There were words being thrown my way and people would cross the road when they saw me. But at the time it wasn’t a massive issue to me. It was only when I was older that I realised that was very wrong.”
Khaled grew up in a council house, the second of six children of first-generation Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants.
His parents had moved to the UK in pursuit of business opportunities but life in England was tough to begin with as they tried to navigate life in a new country while raising a family on a stretched income.
Grit
However, through sheer grit and instinctive entrepreneurial skills, they began their socially and economically upward journey towards relative comfort and financial stability, through a small chain of restaurants. Khaled was with them throughout the journey.
As one of seven people living in a terraced house, in his early years Khaled was oblivious to his surroundings. He said: “As a child, your world is your family, your house and your neighbours and you’re blind to the fact that you live in a deprived area. To me, that was just my life.”
“But as you get older you become more aware of the hurdles you faced growing up.”
Expectation
Although Khaled’s father spoke English well, his mother struggled with the language so the pressure to translate was a challenge for Khaled, as was the high parental expectation.
He said: “The expectation was that I would get good grades, go to university and get a well-paid job. For a while I did feel resentment because of that pressure, but then I had a lightbulb moment. I realised that my parents had worked hard and I didn’t want to give up on their dream. So I surrounded myself with people who were aligned with my ambitions and goals. I wanted to continue to make my parents’ dream a reality.”
Bursary
Khaled was able to attend Plymouth University due to a bursary which he received based on his academic ability and factors including socio-economic background and ethnicity. He said: “I definitely see the link between socio-economic background and ethnicity. That’s why there are schemes aimed at helping people like me move up the social ladder.
“I left university with a first class degree in economics and I don’t think I could have done that without the financial support from bursary schemes. I would probably still have gone to university but I would have had to work longer hours, which would have left me less time to spend on my studies.”
Khaled went on to study a Masters degree in business management at Bath University before securing a finance role in the public sector. It was during his time in that role that he developed in interest in diversity, equity and inclusion.
He said: “I helped kickstart some of the internal DEI networks and developed a passion for it, which was what drove me to join Progress Together.
“Given my life experiences, I want to continue to drive the messages of Progress Together.
“I also want to extend that into my personal life too, using my own experience to help younger people navigate the challenges they face in everyday life.”
Ambitions
Khaled is married and became a homeowner at the age of 26. His uncle became the Mayor of Swindon in 2022, while his father runs a community badminton scheme in his spare time, alongside running the restaurants which have afforded his family an increasingly comfortable lifestyle.
Khaled has ambitions to expand his volunteering to help young South Asian people in Swindon fulfil their potential. Recognising the difficulties he faced whilst growing up, Khaled is keen to act as a role model and help guide those within his community that may be experiencing adversities and challenges in their lives.
Khaled is Progress Together’s Programme Co-ordinator.
