A CHARITY that has helped thousands of refugee and ethnic minority women find work has paid tribute to the woman who founded it in her own home.

Rafaat Mughal died at North Middlesex Hospital on April 10, aged 81, from complications of a sepsis infection and pneumonia.

Born in Uganda in 1939, Rafaat came to Britain with her two sons in 1972 after being expelled along with other Ugandan Asians by dictator Idi Amin. and stayed in Surrey as refugees for six months.

Her son Fiyaz Mughal said: “Ugandan Asians were stripped of all of their assets and I remember my mother and father saying that they left Uganda with the clothes they had on their backs with my brother and I holding our milk bottles.

“My mother said that the soldiers stripped every material items from us as we were expelled from Entebbe Airport, we arrived with nothing.”

After six months in the Stradishall RAF camp in Suffolk, the family moved to Kenya as her husband Faiz, an electrical engineer, wanted to earn a living.

He found work with the East African Power and Lighting in Nairobi, Kenya and the family moved to Kenya from 1973 to 1983.

Mrs Mughal served as a Labour councillor in the London Borough of Haringey for eight years, representing Woodside and White Hart Lane until 1994.

Rafaat’s son Fiyaz Mughal, 50, who is a Liberal Democrat councillor, said: “My mother was a very sociable woman who loved to go out and meet people.

"She was resilient and a real survivor and suffered three bouts of being homeless but overcame them. Her resilience was built on an innate desire to live and to help others and her life’s work exhibited this basic tenet.”

In 1989 Mrs Mughal set up the JAN Trust - JAN means Jamait Al Nissa – family or community of women in Arabic. The charity provided black and minority ethnic and refugee women with training and language skills so they could enter the employment market and make a life for themselves.

She spent 30 years working with the charity and was made an OBE in 2014 by Prince William for her work for communities and marginalised women.

A trust spokesperson said: “We are deeply saddened that our founder, Rafaat Mughal OBE, passed away.

“Having occupied roles including teacher, race relations officer, and councillor, her greatest legacy will be as a woman who saw the struggles of marginalised women, and dedicated the rest of life to empowering these women to overcome obstacles to their full integration in society.

“From humble beginnings in her own home, she built JAN Trust from the ground up to become a grassroots organisation that offers educational opportunities, advice, and support for minority women who often have nowhere else to turn.

“Without the vision of Rafaat Mughal OBE, JAN Trust would not have become the national force for ethnic minority women that it is today.

“Modest until the end, she had received multiple plaudits for her work but she remarked that she was most touched by the pride expressed by her family.”

Rafaat’s burial took place in Ilford’s Gardens of Peace Muslim Cemetery on April 15.

A further memorial is planned to take place in Alexandra Palace once Covid restrictions are reduced, Fiyaz added: “She loved Alexandra Palace and we, her children, are looking to have a permanent memorial set up in Wood Green with the permission of the local authority.”

The family also hopes to erect a permanent memorial in Wood Green.