Cherry was born and grew up in South London. She studied German and Russian at Birmingham University and lived for two years in international student hostels in Germany before beginning her career in further education teaching in Birmingham in 1974.
Politically active since 1973 and a committed trade unionist from 1974, Cherry played a key role in developing multicultural and antiracist education through Sandwell NUT, the West Midlands Campaign against Racism in Education (WMCARFE), and at Rowley Regis College, where she co-developed and co-taught one of the first accredited black history courses. She was Secretary of the Birmingham Campaign against Racism and Fascism (CARF) during the late 1970s and 1980s, working with Birmingham TUC, the Indian Workers’ Association, the Bangladesh Workers’ Association, the Afro-Caribbean Association, the Kashmiri Workers’ Association and Searchlight to oppose the National Front, support anti-deportation campaigns, and defend communities.
In 1984–85, Cherry organised food collections across Birmingham with the Birmingham TUC Miners Support Committee in solidarity with striking miners, who were also welcomed into her home. From 1989 at Matthew Boulton College, she served as Head of Languages, Access to HE Coordinator and College Counsellor, as well as Staff Governor and NATFHE Branch Secretary during the bitter contracts dispute. After three years at Solihull College, she moved to London in 1999, first working for the North London Colleges European Network and later for CILT, the National Centre for Languages, where she led the development of the National Occupational Standards for Intercultural Working, approved and published in 2008.
Cherry was an active member of the Coalition of Resistance against austerity from 2011 to 2014 and Treasurer of the Greece Solidarity Campaign from 2012 onwards. In 2019, she co-organised the establishment of Barnet Stand Up to Racism. After retirement, she continued to volunteer as an ESOL tutor for Unite the Union migrant worker members and with Barnet Refugee Service (2014–2022).
She now serves on the Birmingham Stand Up to Racism Steering Group and remains an active trade unionist. Over the years, Cherry has been a member, Branch Officer, Regional Officer and NEC member of the Further Education Teachers’ Union, NATFHE, and its successor, the University and College Union (UCU).
When asked about the origins of her activism, Cherry says:
“My activism was sparked when I was a teenager. Enoch Powell was giving his speeches about the ‘rivers of blood,’ and this, for me, was just awful!”
