Help us tell the stories of Filipinos in the UK

Hi! I’m Liezel Longboan, founder and editor of Tinig UK, a non-profit community media enterprise serving Filipinos in Britain. My son Owen and I are running the Green Park Reading 3K mini-marathon so Tinig UK can continue to tell the untold stories of UK Filipinos (estimated around 300,000).

How it all started

Tinig (tee-nig) is a Filipino word which means “voice” in English. As an immigrant, I found it difficult for many years to speak up at work or in social settings despite my experience and education. But Covid-19 changed that.

At the height of the pandemic, Filipino healthcare workers had the highest number of deaths in the NHS. But no one was looking into their plight.

With my journalism training, I started Tinig UK to tell the untold stories of Filipinos who were dying during the pandemic. Thanks to a small grant from Internews and the support of many volunteers, we launched our website in August 2020. I have found my voice once again through journalism.

Our work is making an impact

Here’s a small list of the wonderful things we have achieved in the last four years, thanks to the contributions of our volunteers:

We have mentored at least 25 interns - mostly from ethnic minority backgrounds - who have learned skills in journalism, marketing, web and graphic design.

We have written a series of articles looking into the experiences of Filipino domestic workers trafficked into the UK. Despite having been abused by their overseas employers, they are penalised by the Home Office, many of them becoming undocumented in the process.

We were the first news outlet to raise the issue of the lack of robust data about Filipino nurses in the NHS during Covid. We were also the first to cover the inclusion of the Filipino ethnic category in the NHS staff record.

We have legal advice and parenting columns that specifically address the concerns of the Filipino community.

We have been featuring Filipino authors, artists, businesses, and events, celebrating our culture, and making them visible to a wider audience.

Your donation can change lives

Help us continue the important work that we do. Your donation will allow us to continue mentoring journalism students from ethnic minority backgrounds, write authoritative articles about issues that matter to our community, and offer important advice on topics needed by our readers.

Maraming salamat! Thank you for your support!