Jasbir Kaur and Jasbir Singh

Jasbir Kaur (right), Jasbir Singh (left) and their daughter Jasbinder Kaur (not pictured)
St Mary's News, Bearwood

Jasbir Kaur
We started this shop 35 years ago. It has been our living. This community we work for are very good for us, very kind of people. And during COVID we were thinking to close the shop or sell it. But for the sake of our community, we decided to keep open in this period as well. It was very hard for us. We want to help them as much as we can. We worked long hours in the shop, getting the stock in, getting the paper rounds delivered and serving people at the same time. It was a hard job.  We would say we are fully skilled at what we do.  We know what we are doing.

Jasbir Singh
I worked in Handsworth for private hire taxis for over 20 years then worked for TOA as a black cabbie before becoming a bus driver for West Midlands travel. I worked long hours always. I worked 2 ½ years in Hockley garage,  one year in West Brom. Then I got attacked with a hammer whilst on my bus round one night and lost my eye, meaning I lost my license for buses, taxis, trucks, private hire and forklifts. Five licenses in five minutes.

We are now ready to retire from the shop, but my community don't want me to sell the shop, they want me to keep going. As we said we are going to sell the shop, we had so many customers saying, “don’t sell the shop, where are we going to go? We don’t want to go anywhere else!” Because we have very very old customers and they stick with us all time. And we give them good service as well.

Jasbir Kaur
I ran the shop by myself when Jasbir was doing the buses and taxis, I carried the shop by myself. The kids that used to come to the shop are grown up, but they still come to the shop. We work 365 days a year, we don’t even shut on Christmas Day. Every single day, half five in the morning to half five at night. This is not a 9-5 job.

And even in COVID, we shortened the hours but we were busy doing food parcel drop-offs. This is an ageing community and everyone here has aged together. And we feel they love us, and we have a loyalty to them, and to them as our customers. We think it’s so special. Some of the people we helped during COVID, we were their only connection - we were delivering the papers, bringing them food parcels because they couldn’t have any other contact. Our children didn’t come around for almost a year so that was hard for us as well. We did try to close so we could retire but for the sake of our customers, we can carry on let's see over another year. We are deciding ourselves now, so let’s see over the next six or seven months.

Jasbir Singh
One of the reasons why we carry on is we know because of my injury, I won’t be able to get another job. It will be very hard. And age is against me to. 

Jasbinder Kaur
I think that mum and dad’s work ethic is different. For this generation, well they are Asian, they're immigrants. They came here, they worked hard, they didn't have holidays. We didn't have holidays growing up. You know, we were posting papers helping mum and dad with the business, with the shop with everything and their work. It's completely different. Me, my sisters and my brother, we’ve all got professions now. Because of my parents, we have been able to be graduates. They have put the work ethic into us as well, that we all need to keep going. 

Jasbir Singh
We are supporting parents, we supported our children through everything, anywhere, we were always there willing to back them up.

Jasbir Kaur
Community for me means family. It's like the community is my family members and is part of my life. I have spent all my life with this community. This community is Asian and black, white, and people of all ages. Children, middle-aged, older people. And now it’s the third generation of children, you know, I saw them growing up and they still come back to me after so many years. Sometimes when they come this way, they always come to see me.

Jasbinder Kaur
I think also with my parents it's important to understand that when they came here they were both illiterate and didn't speak English. They literally built this business and run it singlehandedly. And now it’s hard to explain just how much of a community hub they are.

Jasbir Kaur
We bought this shop 35 years ago. We were both born in India. I was 21 when I came to this country. It wasn't easy for me, but when I came to run this shop, I can't forget how helpful my customers were to me. They helped me to understand and they helped me to learn English as well.

Jasbir Singh
Wherever we go from here, we will never forget this nice, beautiful place, wherever we go to. It’s a place where whatever you give to others, they always give something back. This shop was opened in 1910 by an English family. It was a post office. We are still continuing to keep it going. 

Jasbinder Kaur
I think what we all want to see for the future here is Bearwood is regeneration. When you go down Bearwood High Stree it’s not the same. The High Street used to be buzzing, it needs a boost. It’s such a brilliant area. We have moved away now, but we all love coming back to the park, and to Warley woods.

Jasbir Kaur
I think we are here to help each other. To be kind to each other. As human beings, we have to help each other. We are like a neighbourhood watch, you know, we watch over our neighbours.