Funmi Aiyeola - Meet Funmi

MEET FUNMI Olawunmi Oluwafunmilayo (Funmi) Aiyeola. With Nigerian origin, Funmi is the forth child of her family, raised by a single father. Born 10th December 1966 in London, Funmi was brought up in Nigeria, before she returned to the United Kingdom in 1991. She attended the Tower Hamlets Advanced Technology College to study Information Technology and Business Administration from 1992-93. However, Funmi promised herself to fulfill her dream of earning a university degree after her children grew older. Funmi had her daughter, Blessing, (the actress, model, and founder of www.san-pariel.com) in 1989 at the age of 22 then shortly after, she gave birth to her Johnson in 1992. Initially being homeless on her arrival to the UK she was housed by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH). As a single mother of two, life was very difficult, but she decided to set herself free from poverty by going back to college, doing placement with her local Council and eventually she was offered a job by LBTH and then later Export Credit Guarantee Department in Docklands. In January 1996, Funmi resigned from her job as a civil servant to become self-employed in order to be able to work flexible hours that will enable her to invest more time in Blessing and Johnson. With the extra time, she was now able to pay more attention to her children’s education and take them to classes to build on their talents in music and drama. In addition, this was the time that she began participating in the improvement of her local community as a way of giving back for all it had done to help her. In 2002, Funmi and her children moved from East London to Cambridgeshire. She also embarked on community work for her new community; and in 2008 Funmi opened a local shop called 'Funmi Afro'. Her children are both now young adults and are both at good Universities. In 2008 Funmi thought it was the right time to go back to University to study Criminology. She will love to be involved in politics or even present a television show to do with criminology. Always welcoming to whoever is in need of help, Funmi is identified by most of those that know her as an extremely caring and wise woman.