“I was born into complete destitution in Malaysia but was adopted into a privileged family, which completely changed the course of my life,” said Sophia.
“When I saw what was happening to children in Ukraine, I felt a connection. These are lost kids and I was a lost kid.”
Pictured: Sofia Noakes
Humanitarian Aid – Guernsey was set up by Natalia Silvester this month.
“I have worked in hospitality since coming to Guernsey in my early twenties and I know Natalia from those circles and she approached me about what she was doing,” said Sofia.
“I have always felt an affinity to want to do good. What my family provided me with in life is so fundamentality amazing that it taught me that people do have the ability to improve each other’s lives.
“Children in Ukraine have a hard road ahead of them, but I know they will be fine if they are given support and shown that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Pictured: Sofia with her father, Anthony Noakes.
Sofia had not been told that she was adopted.
“I found out [I was adopted] when I was 18 after my father sadly passed and I was noted in his will as his adopted daughter.
“I felt almost as if I had been punched in the stomach. But I knew my parents loved me, I knew they were my mum and dad, and I don’t have an urge to seek anything from the past because I have been given an amazing life.”
Sofia’s father, Anthony Noakes, was an aircraft engineer for the Sultan of Brunei.
“I was born into such poverty, but then I was given this crazy life where I was educated in a private school in Borneo with the Sultan’s children and I was going to private clubs behind golden gates.
“It’s surreal to think how different my life could have been. I think that’s why I’m such a people person. If you can touch someone’s life in any way then you should.”
Pictured: Sofia has voluntarily undertaken the graphic design for the new Humanitarian Aid – Guernsey foundation.
When Mr Noakes’ contract ran out, the family moved to Scotland. Sophia was 11 years old.
“I was given a more well-rounded life. My father used to always say that a lot of people who are well-educated can find the circumference of a baked bean tin but they can’t open it. That saying has always stuck with me.
“My father has been gone for nearly 15 years and I miss him every day. At least once a day that saying pops into my head.
“I don’t have textbook intelligence, but I have that saying as a reminder that what matters is that I have heart and drive and passion in what I do and I never give up.”
Pictured: Sofia suffers with a condition which causes leg ulcers.
Sofia credits the lessons from her dad with enabling her to battle a health condition.
“I could be in the most down and out position and struggling to walk but there’s just something deep within me that means I won’t ever give up.
“I have a venous insufficiency where the valves in the bottom of my legs aren’t functioning as they should…and the end result is that I have a build up of pressure which creates wounds and ulcers and makes it painful and difficult to walk.”
Despite her health difficulties, Miss Noakes has been running social media for the new Humanitarian Aid foundation as well as undertaking public relations and human resources roles.
“I had the capacity to be able to take on the voluntary roles because I couldn’t continue to work in hospitality with my legs as bad as they were.
“I love working in hospitality. I always say that the hospitality industry is the love of my life. One of the hardest things for me to accept was that I had to stop front-of-house and operations roles because of my legs.
Pictured: Sofia moved to Guernsey to work in the hospitality industry.
“I have taught myself graphic design to be able to fulfil the role and do it to the best of my ability and I’ve been really enjoying it and it’s great to be able to play a part in the incredible work of the foundation.
“I have enjoyed it so much that I am launching my own business, Grathicks Design and Media.”
Sofia is also launching an events management company, The Service Penguin.
“I have always loved working with people. I think that stemmed from my mum, who was a nursing home chef and one of the loveliest people you will ever meet.
“She used to take me to work in a dementia care home with her during the summer holidays and I spent a lot of time with people and their families and I gained a great deal of empathy from seeing these people change so much from who they had been previously.
Pictured: Sofia’s mother took her to work in a nursing home during summer holidays.
“I really learned from those experiences to grab life and it really instilled in me the importance of integrally being yourself and if you can be a supporting role in anyone’s journey then do it.”
Sofia moved to Guernsey to work in hospitality.
“I came to Guernsey with £200 and two suitcases and I had a friend here so I knew that I would be ok.
“It was a bit difficult moving here as a coloured woman, but I completely understand where that stemmed from.”
Pictured: Sofia’s parents, Anthony and Elizabeth.
Sofia’s mother is Asian from Ipoh in Malaysia and her father was from Reading in the UK.
“Although by birth I am fully Asian, I was raised as mixed because of my mum and dad.
“I have a very vivid memory of when we first moved to Scotland and I came home from school and was crying after being bullied for my race, my accent and my hair. Scotland was not as diverse then as it is now.
“My mother told me, in a very loving way, that one day she and my father would not be around and that I needed to decide for myself how I wanted to handle the bullying. That had a very profound impact on me.
Pictured: Elizabeth Noakes (left) and Sofia.
“When I moved to Guernsey, it was not as diverse as it is now. While most islanders were incredibly welcoming and loving, there is also an interesting part of the culture where it was difficult for some people who were not used to seeing diversity.
“I completely understand and respect those people and their opinions. I understand that this is a small island with a difficult history of people coming here and taking land and taking things away from people. I don’t think that any difficulty I faced when I moved here stemmed from racism.”
Sofia believes that Guernsey’s history has played an integral role its response to the Ukraine crisis.
“I think people in Guernsey will be incredibly welcoming to Ukrainian refugees because they have an affinity with people being sent away from their homes.
“There are people here who have grandparents who were evacuated and islanders know what those experiences are like so I think collectively it’s made Guernsey good at dealing with the current Ukraine crisis.”