Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2015 | Page 36

INTERVIEW
Blackburn, and were facing all the
problems of integrating and settling into
a new and unfamiliar way of life”.
Among other things, the young Church
Army officer found himself explaining to
families the basics of how to use dustbins
and non-squatting toilets.
“I was basically going in and doing
the kind of work that the local authority
couldn’t get involved with – and because
the Muslim families were people of faith,
and they saw me as similar, a man of the
Church, they felt I could be trusted”.
During his time in the North of
England, the Rev Arkell studied social
work at Preston Polytechnic. After
qualifying, he decided that being a social
worker for a local authority was not for
him – but the training was to come in
very useful in his later career path.
Next was a Church Army posting to
another challenging area – Ilkeston
in the East Midlands, a former Z[