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// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Gaynor Legall a good runner? He's got a leg up.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gaynor Legall
CBE
BornFebruary 1950 (age 76)
Cardiff, Wales
TitleCity councillor
Term1983–1991
SuccessorBetty Campbell

Gaynor Antoinette LeGaulle CBE (born February 1950), better known as Gaynor Legall,[1] is a Welsh campaigner and activist who is a founder of the Wales Anti-Apartheid Movement and chaired a 2020 audit on monuments linked to the slave trade within Wales. She served as a councillor within Cardiff, becoming the first black councillor for a city within Wales.

Personal life and education

[edit]

Legall was born in February 1950, at St David's Hospital, Cardiff, Wales. She grew up during the 1956 redevelopment of Tiger Bay and attended South Church Street, in Butetown.[1] Legall was raised by her mother and an uncle who was a surrogate father to her.[2] As a child, she attended the Cardiff's children's group The Rainbow Club, where she met Shirley Bassey in 1957, before she began her first world tour.[3][4]

Growing up, her grandmother and great aunt told her stories of the 1919 South Wales race riots. The two sisters lived in Tiger Bay at the time and barricaded themselves in their home to avoid rioters, stockpiling rocks in case they needed to throw them as protection. They sewed pockets into the men's clothing, so they could hide knives and guns within them.[5] Reflecting on her family's experiences, Legall has said she grew up with a deep set distrust of officials, and that the riot had left the community with a lingering sense of fear.[5][6][7]

Political career

[edit]

Legall served as a councillor for the Butetown electoral ward of Cardiff City Council from 1983 to 1991,[8] serving as a member of the Labour Party.[9] She was the first black councillor for a city within Wales.[4][10][11]

Further work

[edit]

Legall has worked in a variety of social care roles, including as a nurse and a social worker.[12]

She was a member of Black Alliance, an Anti-Apartheid group based in Cardiff that was founded in 1969. She recalled a protest the Black Alliance held in 1969, in Cardiff, where police arrested all the black men. The mounted police then began herding people down side-streets and Legall was only able to avoid arrest when a woman in a nearby house gave them refuge. Legall went on to organise with Hanef Bhamjee, and was a founding member of Wales Anti-apartheid Movement (WAAM) in 1981.[4][13][14]

In 1987 Legall was involved in the four part film series, Struggles for Black Communities. Made by Colin Prescod, the films were commissioned by the Institute of Race Relations and aired on Channel 4.[5][7]

In 1988, she founded AWETU, which means "our unity" in Swahili. It was the first black led mental health charity in Wales and it was the only mental health group that supported minority ethnic people in Wales until its merger with the Cardiff & Vale Coalition of Disabled People in 2011. The two groups then become Diverse Cymru.[15][16] AWETU provided an advocacy and befriending services, drop in groups, and training services for authorities to help them understand the specific mental health struggles minority ethnic groups may face.[17]

She established FullEmploy Wales in 1989.[18][19] The organisation was a Welsh specific sister organisation to FullEmploy, which aimed to place black and minority ethnic young adults into suitable job roles.[20][21] The organisation later renamed to become Newemploy, before closing in 2001.[21][19]

In 1995, she helped found BAWSO, a charity focused on supporting black and minority ethnic domestic abuse survivors in Wales.[18][15] The charity runs refuges, offers support in the community, and a 24-hour helpline.[22]

In July 2020 the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford formed a group to audit street names, building names, and public monuments that were linked to the British slave trade. This came after a month of Black Lives Matter protests.[23][24] Legall was appointed as the chair of the group.[25]

The group's findings were published in November 2020, in The Slave Trade and The British Empire Report.[25] The audit found that over 200 buildings, monuments, and street names across Wales were named in commemoration of people directly linked to the slave trade.[26] These commemorations rarely addressed any connections to slavery.[27] The findings also highlighted the lack of commemorations for black and Asian people within Wales.[26] To potentially address this, the report identified 41 historically significant Welsh black people who could be commemorated in the future.[25]

Following the report, Legall explained that the group intentionally choose not to make recommendations around the commemorations, instead believing that decisions around them should be made by the people to who live near them.[27][3] Commenting on what she wanted to see, Legall hoped that the audit would help educate younger generations on where Welsh wealth came from, and hoped to see more commemorations for people of colour.[27]

In October 2020 Legall spoke about her experience growing up as a black woman in Wales, in the BBC documentary Black and Welsh by Liana Stewart.[28][2]

She was involved in the Picture Post: A Twentieth Century Icon, a 2025 National Museum Cardiff exhibition that focused on photography from the 1930s to the 1950s. Legall helped select photographs that represented Tiger Bay.[11][29]

Legall sits on the committee boards of a variety of organisations including The Heritage & Cultural Exchange, a Cardiff based community organisation that archives the history of Tiger Bay.[30][31] She is also an honorary vice chair of LLafur, an organisation formed in 1970 to promote the people's history of Wales.[31][32] Previously Legall served as a director of Butetown History and Arts Centre, which announced it's planned closure in 2016.[15][33] She is a board member of Diverse Excellence Cymru[15][34] and a non-executive member of Cadw's board.[31]

Legall was a member of the Cardiff Bay Rugby Codebreakers committee, which campaigned and fundraised to create a statue celebrating sportsmen from Cardiff Bay. The committee erected the Codebreakers Statue in Cardiff Bay in July 2023.[35][36] It was the first statue within Wales that featured non-fictionalised, and named black men.[37]

Awards

[edit]

In 2017, Legall was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Ethnic Minority Welsh Women Achievement Association.[38]

In 2023, she was awarded an honorary award from the Open University.[15] She was also a candidate for a BLAC Award UK in 2023.[14]

In December 2024 Legall was awarded the Order of the British Empire for her public service and anti-racism work within Wales.[39]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 "Recordiad sain / Audio recording: Gaynor Legall - Collections Online". Museum Wales. Archived from the original on 10 April 2026. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Black and Welsh: The assumptions and questions people face". BBC News. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Slavery: 'Time for decisions' on slave owner statues and street names". BBC News. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "Llafur Summer Series 2020 - Episode 2: STOP THE SPRINGBOKS! – Wales and Opposition to Apartheid". Llafur. Archived from the original on 28 April 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "Cardiff Race Riots: Reparative Histories – by Gaynor Legall – Prosiect Llongau-U 1914-18 | U-boat Project Wales 1914-18". Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  6. ↑ Payson, Alida (2018). Feeling together: emotion, heritage, conviviality and politics in a changing city (phd thesis). Cardiff University. Archived from the original on 20 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  7. 1 2 "New Black history DVD". Institute of Race Relations. 11 December 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  8. ↑ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Cardiff Welsh District Council Elections Results 1973-1991 (PDF). Plymouth University. pp. 1–13.,
  9. ↑ "Labour Party leaflet". canfod.glamarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2026. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "Interview with Gaynor Legall & Paddy Kitson. Tape 4 · The Tiger Bay and the World Collection". hcearchive.org.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Tiger Bay: Exhibition shows memories of bygone Cardiff community". BBC News. 24 May 2025. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  12. ↑ "Ursula Masson Memorial Lecture 2021". Welcome. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  13. ↑ "Wales Anti-Apartheid Movement Papers, - National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts". archives.library.wales. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  14. 1 2 "The Nominees 2023 – The BLAC Awards". Archived from the original on 13 April 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Outstanding individuals receive honorary awards from the OU". 27 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  16. ↑ yogi. "About Us". Diverse Cymru. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  17. ↑ "Awetu - Cardiff". The Guardian. 2 December 2006. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  18. 1 2 "Gaynor Legall CBE". www.bera.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 17 April 2026. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  19. 1 2 "NEWEMPLOY WALES LIMITED - Charity 701547". prd-ds-register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 17 April 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  20. ↑ Spencer, Linbert (1988). "Bridging the Unemployment Gap Between Black and White People in Britain". RSA Journal. 136 (5380): 237–248. ISSN 0958-0433. JSTOR 41374554.
  21. 1 2 Thomas, Huw; Stirling, Tamsin; Brownill, Sue; Razzaque, Konnie (1996). "Locality, Urban Governance and Contested Meanings of Place". Area. 28 (2): 186–198. ISSN 0004-0894. JSTOR 20003656.
  22. ↑ "Bawso | Who we are". Bawso. Archived from the original on 17 April 2026. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  23. ↑ "Gaynor Legall to audit statues, street and building names in Wales". Diversity UK. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 April 2026. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  24. ↑ "Written Statement: Audit of public monuments, street and building names associated with the history of black communities in Wales (6 July 2020) | GOV.WALES". www.gov.wales. 6 July 2020. Archived from the original on 24 April 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  25. 1 2 3 "The Slave Trade and the British Empire: An Audit of Commemoration in Wales | Cadw". cadw.gov.wales. Archived from the original on 6 April 2026. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  26. 1 2 "Over 200 Welsh statues, streets and buildings connected to the slave trade listed in nationwide audit". Welsh Government News. 26 November 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  27. 1 2 3 "Slavery: 200 memorials linked to slave trade and activists in Wales". BBC News. 26 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 April 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  28. ↑ "BBC One - Black and Welsh". BBC. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  29. ↑ "Picture Post: A Twentieth Century Icon". Museum Wales. Archived from the original on 16 April 2026. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  30. ↑ "Tiger Bay and the Docks: 1880s – 1950s". senedd.wales. Archived from the original on 19 January 2026. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  31. 1 2 3 "Cadw Board | Cadw". cadw.gov.wales. Archived from the original on 24 April 2026. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  32. ↑ "About Us". Llafur. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  33. ↑ Mosalski, Ruth (20 May 2016). "Butetown History and Arts Centre to close its doors". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 8 January 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  34. ↑ "Black History Talk: Life and Work of Community Champions". Black History Month 2026. 14 February 2008. Archived from the original on 26 April 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  35. ↑ "Rugby Codebreakers". Archived from the original on 7 March 2026. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  36. ↑ "Rugby Codebreakers statue wins Sporting Heritage Award". www.cardiffnewsroom.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 April 2026. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  37. ↑ Johnson, Taite (19 July 2023). "Giant statue of three Welsh rugby heroes unveiled in Cardiff". Wales Online. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  38. ↑ "EMWWAA |". emwwaa.org.uk. Archived from the original on 23 April 2026. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  39. ↑ "Order of the British Empire". The Gazette. 30 December 2024. Archived from the original on 20 April 2026. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
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