Diane Watt has worked in the field
of education for a number of years and
was one of the senior lecturers on the
BA (Hons) and Masters Course in Youth
and Community Work at Manchester
Metropolitan University. This involved
attending conferences at the University of
KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and Tanganza University College in Kenya. Her community activism included teaching secretarial studies to students in Mutari, Zimbabwe and undertaking voluntary
work in Togo, West Africa. Her most recent trip to the continent was with Global Hands an initiative of Dr Momodou Sallah. Global Hands is a Leicester- based social enterprise and a charity in The Gambia which is aimed at challenging local and global inequalities.
At a community level she was a member of Manchester Black Women’s Co-operative and was one of the founding members of Abasindi Black Women’s Co-operative in Moss Side. The members of this organisation included community activist such as the late Kath Locke, Shirley Inniss and Paula Jones who also taught on the Black Access course in Hulme. In 2015 herself and Professor Adele Jones, another member of Abasindi Co-op published the book, ‘Catching Hell and Doing Well, Black Women in the UK – Abasindi Co-operative. Consistent with the rationale for the establishment of the Women of the Soil (WOS) project, this book is aimed at highlighting the achievements and activism of Black women locally, nationally and at a global level.