Paying it forward

ACCA calling

‘That was a big calling for me,’ Jane continues. ‘I come from a very poor background in Nigeria. I went to school only because my neighbour paid my school and university fees; my parents didn’t have the money. I never had the opportunity to pay that money back, but I always had it in mind that I would pay it forward. And that’s what happened.’

Jane gained a BSc in industrial chemistry at the University of Nigeria and joined the graduate training programme at Zenith Bank in 2003. When her plan to study for an MBA in the UK proved too expensive, she began to explore ACCA as an alternative.

‘An ACCA qualification was seen as a thing of honour in Nigeria and, when I started studying, I could see that there was a lot of overlap with an MBA. Every module was so rich, it gave me so much joy discovering new things every day.’

Jane moved to the UK with her husband in 2011 and worked in the oil industry for seven years. After having her first baby, the family relocated to Aberdeen. The oil-price crisis that hit the city so hard, though, has led to her setting up an award-winning charity.

Beacon of hope

Touch of Love describes itself as ‘a beacon of hope and a catalyst for change’, with the aim of alleviating the struggles of vulnerable people in Aberdeen and the surrounding areas, especially minority ethnic children, young people and mothers. The charity runs a food bank, as well as a Young Achievers’ Club, employability workshops (60% of those taking part have found a job), and educational programmes for families on topics that range from autism awareness to financial management, designed to counteract social exclusion and help immigrant families navigate life in Aberdeen.

It is small (its total funds are less than £100,000) but effective; in 2024 Touch of Love was a finalist in the National Youth Work Awards, organised by YouthLink Scotland. In 2025 Jane won the Inspirational Leader of the Year in the National Youth Work Awards, followed by two prizes at the Scottish Charity Awards: Small Scottish Charity of the Year and the People’s Choice award. Also last year, Jane was awarded an honorary Doctor of Business Administration by Robert Gordon University for her outstanding contribution to the Aberdeen Community.

It all began with a food bank at the church. ‘There was a lot of hunger,’ Jane recalls. ‘The church is in an area of regeneration, where a lot of people are struggling with drugs and alcohol but accommodation is cheap, so when people come to Aberdeen for the first time, that’s where they tend to settle.’

Many of these households were immigrants from Africa. ‘A lot of people were struggling, trying to find their feet and settle in,’ says Jane. ‘I knew we couldn’t solve all the problems but maybe we could help a few people, give them somewhere to collect food when they were hungry.’

With advice from existing food banks, she applied to CFINE (Community Food Initiatives North East) to set up a distribution point. Fridges, a freezer and the first batches of food were in place by March 2020 but within three weeks, Touch of Love found itself in the midst of the pandemic. ‘FareShare emailed us and said they needed people to deliver food parcels and prescriptions, so we did – out of my house, because we weren’t able to get into the church.’

The requests quickly ramped up and before long the charity was delivering up to 100 parcels a week, with the help of volunteer drivers. ‘It was very stressful, but I learned so much,’ says Jane.

Decisive steps

Over the next few months Touch of Love moved rapidly from an ad hoc local food bank to a fully fledged, registered charity. Jane began collecting data on who was receiving food parcels and how many people the parcels were feeding. It became increasingly obvious that the communities the charity served needed much more help.

At the end of 2022 she made the process more official and began to include a questionnaire in every food parcel, asking people what they spend most of their money on: ‘It was clear that children’s wellbeing was being pushed down the list.’ The answer, reasoned Jane, was a youth group.

Less than four years later, the Young Achievers’ Club, for kids aged between eight and 18, supports minority ethnic young people as they integrate into Scottish life, honouring their cultural origins and ‘enabling them to navigate their dual identities with confidence and pride’.

‘The food bank was built out of compassion, but the youth group was a decisive step,’ says Jane. ‘We understood the terrain and identified the key stakeholders – and my ACCA qualification helped me a lot in that. I see risks and opportunities that others may not, and I can ask informed questions of my team.’

There are more plans to come. ‘We started connecting with the parents of the young people, bringing them together to talk about the worries the children have told us,’ says Jane. ‘Most of these children are Scottish at school and African at home. That’s good, but there are differences that the parents need to negotiate.’

She has also set up a mother-and-baby group and wants to work more closely with schools so that they can refer youngsters in need of support to the youth group.

‘We’ve given young people the opportunity to explore Scotland and learn new things – our cultural dance group, for example, has danced at several national events,’ Jane says. ‘We’d like to help more young people grow their skills, including leadership skills.’

Tackling the root causes of hunger is also a priority for Jane: ‘We’d like to contribute more within the wider Scottish voluntary sector, using our voice and experience to influence systemic changes. Food is really too basic for people to struggle with. It’s vital to make sure that people are not hungry.’