Poppy Noor (born c. 1991) is a British columnist working for Guardian US. She has also written for other publications and appeared on television and radio news programmes. After a difficult childhood and a period of homelessness, Noor was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge and after working in local government following her graduation, won a Scott Trust bursary for postgraduate study and became a Commissioning Editor for The Guardian Housing Network. Her journalism often features themes around race, social justice and community. Since late 2019 her role at Guardian US has a focus on "social news" in New York.

Poppy Noor
Bornc. 1991
Education
OccupationColumnist

Career

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Noor grew up in an immigrant working-class family to an English mother and Bangladeshi father.[1] Her early life was spent in Plaistow, Newham. The family was "broke"; her mother experienced schizophrenia and her father worked long hours as a driver, later working as a car cleaner, and Noor and her two older brothers helped raise her four younger siblings; Noor has supported her family financially "for as long as (she) can remember".[2] Noor was briefly taken into care, and left home at 16, sleeping on friend's sofas as she was not able to obtain her own accommodation due to not being recognised as officially homeless.[3][4][5] After starting at a school in London Borough of Camden, Noor was referred to a homeless person's support team that provided bed and breakfast. She was later housed in a series of hostels.[3]

Following good first-year results in her A-levels, Noor's tutors encouraged her to apply to the University of Cambridge, and she was offered a place at Trinity College, Cambridge,[6] to study Politics, Psychology and Sociology.[7] Noor wrote in The Times in 2016 that she found it hard to adjust to life at the university, stating that "I have never forgotten the intense alienation of my first night."[6] Whilst at Trinity, Noor was awarded sporting colours for football.[8]

After graduating, Noor worked in local government in East London.[3] She trained as a social worker, before being awarded a Scott Trust bursary for a postgraduate degree at Goldsmiths, University of London and becoming a Commissioning Editor for The Guardian Housing Network.[9] She also worked as a freelance journalist.[10] Noor was a reporter in the London office of The Guardian before transferring, in late 2019 to a Guardian US role covering "social news" in New York and encompassing celebrity interviews.[11]

Noor has also written for Vice,[12] The Times,[6] The Independent,[13] The Psychologist[14] and the British Medical Journal[15] She has made several television appearances, including as a reporter for Channel 4 News in 2018.[16] Her journalism often features themes around race, social justice and community.[17]

Awards and nominations

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Outcome Year Awards Category Notes Ref
Winner 2015 Women Inspiration Enterprise Generation Award [18]
Winner 2017 Inspiring Leadership Trust Inspiring Diversity Award [19]

Media appearances

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Year Programme Role Notes Ref
2014 Channel 4 News participant [20]
2017 Newsnight participant BBC Two [21]
2017 Asian Network's Big Debate participant BBC Radio Asian Network [22]
2017 Channel 4 News participant [23]
2018 Channel 4 News participant [24]
2018 Channel 4 News reporter [16]
2018 Free thinking: are we being manipulated? participant BBC Radio 3 [25]

References

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  1. ^ "Is it bourgeois to like 'good food?' I went looking for answers". TheGuardian.com. 9 September 2022.
  2. ^ "How I learned to make peace with supporting my parents financially". TheGuardian.com. 23 November 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Wynne-Jones, Ros (11 March 2014). "How the welfare state helped homeless Poppy to win a place at Cambridge University". The Mirror. London.
  4. ^ Chaplain, Chloe; Michael, Clarke (22 December 2016). "Homeless Helpline: Journalist Poppy tells of being just 16 and having nowhere to call home". London Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  5. ^ Karen Latchana Kenney (April 2017). The Hidden Story of Homelessness. Raintree. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-4747-1645-1. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Noor, Poppy (1 September 2016). "I was homeless but somehow I got into Cambridge – Poppy Noor arrived at the university wearing a Nike tracksuit and a chip on her shoulder. What really changed her life was learning to be middle class". The Times. London.
  7. ^ Hawkins, Amy (28 February 2014). "The Benefit of Benefits: Poppy Noor". Varsity. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  8. ^ Switzer, Shelby. "Women's". Trinity College Cambridge Annual Record 2010–2011. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  9. ^ Ali, Rushanara (9 July 2018). "Too much young BAME talent is being wasted". politicshome.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Poppy Noor, freelance journalist". theconvention.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  11. ^ Mannan, Tahmina (1 October 2019). "Poppy Noor changes role at The Guardian". responsesource.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Poppy Noor". Vice. 3 September 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Poppy Noor". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  14. ^ Norr, Poppy (June 2017). "The fact that we have access to so many different opinions is driving us to believe that we're in information bubbles". The Psychologist. British Psychological Society. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  15. ^ Norr, Poppy (12 February 2020). "Can we trust AI not to further embed racial bias and prejudice?". British Medical Journal. 368: m363. doi:10.1136/bmj.m363. PMID 32051165. S2CID 211101542.
  16. ^ a b "Homelessness outside the city". Channel 4. 11 April 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  17. ^ Wolfson, Sam (10 June 2019). "Why now is the time to express your opinions online". Stylist. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  18. ^ Wallwork, Ellen (28 April 2015). "Joanna Lumley, Malaika Firth And Daisy Lowe On Making A Positive Change to the Fashion Industry". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  19. ^ "Congratulations Poppy Noor". inspiringleadershiptrust.com. 2017. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  20. ^ Comway, Kate (11 February 2014). "One young woman's plea to keep benefits for the under-25s". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  21. ^ "Newsnight: Why is there such a homeless crisis?". BBC. 19 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  22. ^ "Asian Network's Big Debate: Fri 4 Aug 2017". BBC. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  23. ^ "Successive governments fail to improve social mobility". Channel 4. 28 June 2017. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  24. ^ Newman, Cathy (23 March 2018). "Guardian columnist Poppy Noor on Cambridge Analytica and Facebook". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  25. ^ "Free thinking: are we being manipulated? (6 December 2018)". BBC. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
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