Mayor Judy Sarsby
May 2026: we are absolutely thrilled to announce that Elmbridge CAN has been chosen as the Mayor of Elmbridge's Charity of the Year for 2026/27, alongside the Mayor of Elmbridge Trust Fund.
This great honour highlights our shared commitment to building a welcoming and inclusive community, a mission close to the heart of the new Mayor of Elmbridge, Judy Sarsby.
Elmbridge Mayor, Judy Sarsby, can recall countless uplifting stories during her time volunteering for Elmbridge CAN but it is one involving children that cuts to the heart of why the charity has become such an important part of her life.
It involved a party attended by many of the displaced people in the borough a few years ago.
“Lots of children came and they all went outside, but at first they were just staring at their feet, not integrating,” she explains. “We had Syrians, Afghans, Ukrainians and other people from all over the world. Then someone kicked a football into the air, and they all rushed forward. Suddenly they're forming teams and playing together, because we’re all the same. If we can build on that, then maybe the world will be a better place for it.”
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That sense of unity is at the core of Judy’s message for her year as Mayor of Elmbridge: one borough, one bond, Elmbridge together. Her association with the charity dates back to 2018 when, along with a friend from Weybridge Rowing Club, she offered to help as a volunteer.
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“During the Syrian crisis I was asked to support a family who had just arrived, with four children, and they were my first integration family” she continues. “I'm still in contact with them now. It was helping getting the children into school, getting the mum what she needed. She spoke very good English anyway but it was helping her with education, or if a doctor was needed, that sort of thing. I could see the benefit to them, but also the benefit to the community. We helped the husband get the job that he wanted, as well. And then the Covid Pandemic happened.”
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Judy once co-founded her own specialist sourcing and manufacturing company, but had retired by the time the pandemic struck. She contacted former colleagues and began sourcing and supplying PPE to the care home she lived next door to and to government contracts. Her proactive approach caught the attention of local councillors who asked her to stand for Weybridge in the 2021 elections.​​
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“When they asked me to do it, I wasn't really sure because I wanted to carry on with Elmbridge CAN,” she adds. “Then the Ukrainian crisis and the Taliban moving into Kabul happened. We started up the Ukrainian hubs and a Ukrainian came to live with me for three and a half years. So it was useful being part of the Council, making sure that the refugees get the support that they're entitled to, but also other support."
“For instance, Brooklands College were absolutely brilliant. A lady called Sue just turned up at the hub, put a file down and said, ‘We’re Brooklands College, what can we do to help?’ And I said, ‘Can you teach them to speak English?’ She said, ‘Yes I'm head of the English department’. So they put on extra courses and they all learnt English in a year.”
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The collaborative efforts Judy has witnessed during her time on the Council and volunteering have been impressive. And much of what goes on flies in the face of the image of immigration in large parts of the mainstream media.
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“To me it's just a win-win situation and I think it's the wrong sort of publicity that is turning the situation into a negative,” Judy continues. “We lost over a million people from the UK as a result of Brexit. More than one in five employees in the NHS are immigrants. Without them the whole system would collapse. We've got one Ukrainian student who has become a doctor. We've got one young student from Afghanistan, who was teaching in Kabul until the Taliban came and told her to stop and they managed to get out, and she wants to become a doctor. So I found her a job in a pharmacist, and she's doing really well. Her sister wants to be a dentist.
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“There are so many good stories of children who arrived in their teens, they kind of dropped a year due to their English, and now they're heading off to universities. So where is the disadvantage? They're working in our communities, they're propping us up. The young people are going off to university and they're setting an example when they do it. There's one girl who I helped get into a local school, who is a great artist. She’s doing her A-levels and her art is up everywhere. Brilliant, she's going to be an amazing artist.”
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Judy was both surprised and delighted to be asked to stand as the last Mayor of Elmbridge. Looking forward to the challenge ahead, she is keen to bring the work of Elmbridge CAN, and the displaced people being supported, into focus.
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“Telling those good news stories, because there is so much negative publicity about immigration, and it's not a bad news story,” she says. “This country was built on immigration. We need to understand that there is a real benefit here and what we need to do is address it the right way. And I think Elmbridge CAN is such a shining example of how we can take something like immigration in this part of the world, and we have turned it into such good news story. The people that have come here, we didn't invite them here, but we embraced them and said, ‘Let us help you rebuild your lives’. And in so doing, they're now giving back.”