Shila Jassal- Biography

Shila Jassal is actively involved in the local community as a Race Equality and Diversity Advisor. She is an expert in her field and consulted regularly for advice by different statutory and voluntary agencies. Shila has worked for the Commission for Racial Equality and HMP Prison Service, for a number of years in an advisory capacity. She has also worked with prisoners in setting up cultural educational programmes. Shila is further involved in supporting the black minority ethnic communities in Medway and was instrumental in setting up the Minority Ethnic Counselling Service and Minority Ethnic Women’s Support Network in Medway. Both Projects received the Millenium Award for innovation in 2002.

Shila’s skills also extend to practicing and teaching complementary therapies. She is a qualified counsellor, life coach, hypnotherapist and complementary therapist, of many years standing. She currently runs personal development/ spiritual based workshops and is a regular presenter on the internet radio station, Life Conversations Radio, where she hosts a weekly show on self empowerment issues. She is also an advisor for BBC radio Kent on cultural issues and is often asked to write articles on the work she does.

In her spare time, Shila is a hospice counsellor working with the bereaved.

Shila’s interests include travelling, sampling different international cuisines, going to the theatre and doing charity work. Her current projects involve working with a children’s project in India. Recently, Shila has returned from Sri Lanka, where she worked with the people’s affected by the tsunami disaster, offering her skills as a counsellor and has set up a relief fund, Big Wave Big Heart, to support the communities affected by this disaster. To support her ongoing charity work, Shila will be going to Africa later this year to work as part of a medical camp team, to work with some of the deprived communities in Africa.