“You don’t know Allyson—she behaves like she’s two or three people at a time.”  

This is how Allyson Williams’ friends describe her. It’s fitting for someone who has received two Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2024—one from the University of Westminster, and another from the Multicultural Business and Community Champions, a Birmingham-based charity.  

Allyson has certainly lived many lives. From her childhood in Trinidad to her groundbreaking work in the NHS, and from standing up to racism to shaping the Notting Hill Carnival, her impact is impossible to capture in a single article. That’s why she decided to write her autobiography, Tell Me Something I Don’t Know.  

The title recalls a defining moment in Allyson’s early years in the UK. Arriving in 1969 at the age of 21, she had joined the growing NHS to become a midwife. Leaving behind multicultural Trinidad, she was shocked to find that her work was not always met with gratitude.  

“You thought everybody would be grateful and happy to see you. But it wasn’t the case.”  

After months of racist abuse from patients, it was her mother’s advice that gave her the courage to speak up. One day, in the middle of a shift, she turned to her patients and said:  

“I know I am Black. I was born Black. There’s nothing much I can do about being Black—so tell me something I don’t know.”  

“You could hear a pin drop.”  

That moment set the tone for the rest of her career. Fearless in the face of injustice, Allyson repeatedly stood up for herself and others. As she writes in her book:  

“[I have] an innate desire to follow through with a challenge with no fear of the consequences.”  

That fearlessness was tested again when she reported the unprofessional behaviour of a senior doctor towards her staff.  

“I remember taking on a big risk in the hospital when I complained about one of the doctors. And I knew it would be controversial. I knew it would cause disruption”.  

“I was scared. I really was. But I was confident that I had to do something to protect the women and midwives in my care.” 

Her actions helped affirm the crucial role of midwives, challenging the prejudice that their work was less valuable than doctors’.  

But Allyson’s influence went far beyond fighting discrimination. She also left a lasting mark on the NHS, particularly in midwifery, earning her an MBE in 2003.  

“I used to make a lot of waves, as an advocate for the mothers and babies and their families.” 

Her proudest achievement was the expansion of community midwifery services:  

“We expanded from four midwives in the community, up to about 16 in a short space of time. I was the one that got the job to go out and find all the GPs who were interested in maternity care, and who would give us a space alongside them if they wanted to develop. And so, I got GPs working alongside midwives doing antenatal care, and then we developed the home birth part of maternity services.”  

She transformed midwifery practices, championing care that treated pregnant women with dignity and professionalism, and established midwifery as a normal life event. 

Never one to stand still, Allyson became a student at the University of Westminster while working, studying Healthcare Management to stay at the forefront of her field. It was an “uplifting” experience that introduced her to people from “all walks of life”—but it was also about professional development.  

“I noticed the new midwives coming in—so clever, so chatty, so enthusiastic. I noticed quite a few of them were qualified at degree level. I thought, how would I feel if I found out I was more qualified than my manager? That’s what got me thinking: I really need to do a degree.”  

Her message to Westminster students today is clear:  
 
“You have to decide what you believe in and stick with it. Always make sure it’s something worth-while. Always follow your dreams. Work hard to become the best you can, because that’s the bottom line for everything.”  

Another of Allyson’s many lives is at the heart of the Notting Hill Carnival. After marrying Carnival co-founder Vernon Williams, she became a key figure in the festival, co-founding the family-run band Genesis in 1980, which has been performing at the Carnival ever since.  

“[The Carnival] has given me a very strong sense of community because I have met and been involved with people I probably would never have met in my lifetime.”  

For Allyson, Carnival is not just about celebration—it’s about heritage.  

“It’s so important here to understand the legacy that was left to us from our ancestors and everybody who were slaves and descended from slaves —it was very important for me to learn that and really appreciate it myself.”  

Learning to sew from her mother, she has passed on this skill to her children through Carnival costume-making, ensuring that traditions continue.  

Midwife, mentor, activist, student, cultural icon—and now, writer. Having completed her autobiography, Allyson is already working on two more books.  

Her motivation to write comes from a deep belief in sharing life experiences. As she explains in Tell Me Something I Don’t Know:  

“We all have participated in aspects of Black history, simply by being descendants of the enslaved and victims of the brutal colonisations of our ancestors. I think we owe it to each other to share our life’s journey with others. It will also form part of our legacy we can share with our children and their children, so they understand our history informs all we do today.”  

It was a professor who first encouraged her to write:  

“One day, he said to me, ‘Have you ever thought about writing a book about your life experience?’ And I said, ‘Me? Write a book? Why?’ And he said, ‘Because your life is so interesting.’ And I said—really?”  

Asked what she considers her greatest achievement, Allyson smiles.  

“Just surviving it at first, but embracing everything and everyone in my life.” 

But survival hardly seems the right word for a life—or many lives—spent shaping communities, challenging injustice, and leaving a lasting legacy wherever she goes.