Cherry’s Corner: My Vision, My Dream, My Legacy
This time-travelling story of mine, much like my book Foreign or Citizen and the launch of my business, comes at one of the most difficult moments this country is grappling with. I am aware of that. I am aware of how dissatisfied and frightened people are, not just for their own futures, but for the future of this country. Most politicians are using this to achieve their own goals, which are no longer the goals of ordinary people. The media increasingly uses populism and lies for the sake of 'likes'. After several decades of poor leadership of this wonderful country, the consequences have revealed themselves in their full light over the last year and a half. The tension, the division, the loss of kindness, and the loss of so many British values have gained great momentum.
Many people here have asked me: Why the UK? Why did you choose this specific country to come to? And perhaps most of all, why now, at 50?
The answer is both simple and not. Perhaps it’s because, as a young girl, my father told me stories about this country—about Churchill, the politics that defined it, about Parliament, and about Hyde Park's Speaker's Corner. Perhaps it’s because I loved watching British series, comedies, dramas, and documentaries. Perhaps it’s because my children learned British English in school and grew to love this country. Perhaps, as a woman, I had heard about the rights women have in the UK. Perhaps it’s because I knew that people in the UK live the life I aspired to: they do the job they choose, they have hobbies, they volunteer, and they go on holiday twice a year. Perhaps it was because the separation of powers I'd only heard about in my own countries was real in the UK; the judiciary is independent and serves the citizens, the police do not allow politics to influence them but rather enforce the law, and Parliament has the role of changing and adapting laws to some new form of democracy. Perhaps it’s because I watched many documentaries about the beauty of this country, about the efforts to preserve the environment, and how they are becoming leaders in ecological ideas. Perhaps it’s because I believed that all the jokes about their kindness were, after all, just jokes.
I chose this country because I believed that in it, as a woman and as a human being, I could gain the most one possibly could anywhere in the world. Not materially, but becoming rich through human values.
And to be honest, I found that here. After seven years, I can responsibly claim that I have found all the values I was always searching for, and that my arrival at fifty was not a mistake. It was the best decision I have ever made in my life. I love every corner of this country I have peeked into, all the brilliant and wonderful people I have met. Their way of communicating. Their smiles on the street. Their kindness when you are scared and confused. Their way of helping through volunteering, donating, walking for charity, and organising fundraisers. Their curiosity to try and eat every dish that exists in this world. Their desire to travel and visit every place on the globe. Their enthusiasm and belief in education and science. Their dedication to preserving their heritage, their history, and to learning from it. Their codes and norms, not just in politics but in ordinary life.
The list is long, and I could write an entire chapter about it. But it can all fit into one sentence: everything I dreamed of as a 15-year-old girl from ex-Yugoslavia, I received upon arriving here, as a woman of 50.
Many would say it took me long enough. I agree. I fought in my country for 35 years to change things, to embrace democracy and nurture it like a rare plant. I was an activist, a volunteer, and a fighter. One day, exhausted from the fight, I asked myself: What about you, Višnja? What about your dreams and the life you want to live? When did you lose that?
I admit, I was deceived by the impression that my country, Croatia, and the surrounding ex-Yu countries had introduced democracy and learned something after the war. I don't need to tell you how wounded we all were after that war, how many dead and injured all those countries had. How much hatred and how many lies were manufactured to make the war happen. It sounds like an impossible fact even to me that I lived through a war. I thought the human race had outgrown that. Then I realised it hadn't, as wars were being fought all over the world.
I just didn't believe that my own environment at the time believed in war as an option to resolve conflict. I was gravely mistaken. For them, it was the only option, and they stole those five years of my life, spent under sirens and alerts. When, at 50, I asked myself where I had lost my dreams and realised that all those who had advocated for hatred, who led a media war through disinformation, had ultimately become wealthy and respected members of society after the war, I knew my fight in that country was over.
My love for my own homeland, and for the surrounding countries, led me into a trap where I remained for 35 years after my first dream as a teenager. All those years I tried to raise and educate my three daughters, to fight for my rights, their rights, and the rights of others. The years fly by in that fight and persistence. But at a certain point, you arrive at a simple truth about my country: you can lie for some time, you can lie to some people, but you cannot lie all the time and to all people. That is when I made my decision, and you know the rest from the previous stories.
Many thought I betrayed them by leaving, but I knew that by staying, I was betraying myself and my children. My departure to the UK could only bring good to me and my children. Through my example, they too learned about democracy, about a country that respects everyone regardless of skin colour, race, or origin, about a system that is in service to all its citizens.
But today in the UK, some politicians and people think that we, foreign people, do not belong here. They want to revoke our statuses and send us back to our countries. Sometimes, I read comments online or hear politicians speak, and I see the suspicion some people hold towards those of us who have built our lives here. Comments like: "You’ve only been here 6 years—talk about entitlement!"
But let me tell you what those nearly seven years have meant for me—and for this country.
I arrived in the UK with a dream, seeing this land as the cradle of democracy, eager to contribute and build a better life for myself and my community. As an interior designer with two decades of experience, I chose to work as a Live-in Carer for over three years—not only to earn a living, but to truly master the language and immerse myself in the country’s history, culture, and way of life. That was my foundation.
Once I felt prepared, I secured a demanding business role, where the clients I brought in generated an impressive £960,000 revenue for my company last year alone. I’ve paid my taxes diligently. I’ve volunteered over 1,500 hours, mostly supporting the homeless, driven by the empathy I learned on my journey.
I am also writing my book, “Foreign or Citizen,” to celebrate the kindness and decency of the people I’ve met here. Most importantly, I’ve poured my heart into raising my daughter, who graduated from a UK university as the top student of her year. She now works and pays taxes here, contributing to a vital company that helps young people overcome addiction, anxiety, and depression.
I have learned a great deal from the British in these seven years. Truly, a great deal. There are few things I can criticise them for, and I would single out only one.
A famous comedian told a story about being in America and receiving ovations and brilliant comments. Like "Fantastic! Extraordinary! He's brilliant!" He said, "I must tell you, I don't have that experience in the UK. The comments here are: ‘He didn't disappoint.’"Even when we are happy, we have to connect it with disappointment. And really, it's true. Even I have started to behave that way. I started to criticise everything.
And when I first arrived, I was shocked at how all the English people I met constantly criticised absolutely everything. When I asked the son of one of my clients, "Isn't that a bit ungrateful? You should go and live in my country for a year, then you'd see what life can be like, far below what you have here in the UK."He replied: "I know, I'm aware of that. But that's the British way: things must be better, even when they are good." It had a logic to it, and I changed my approach.
However, it seems to me that today, we have overdone it. The country is going through difficult times and the last thing it needs is destruction—and our criticism has become exactly that. When I started writing my book Foreign or Citizen, I realised how many extraordinary things this country has. How much beauty. How much effort. How much kindness. I realised that only we can change things. With our actions, not just our words. Not with destruction and criticism that isn't constructive.
Launching my new business next year is my contribution. A contribution, first and foremost, to this country, to give back what I have received, to say thank you in that way. But the most important motive is to act, to initiate positive change, and to place my trust in this country and its citizens.
Because this is my country now. I no longer feel I belong anywhere more than here, in the UK. Let us try, at least now, in this difficult moment, to be less critical and more focused on what we ourselves can do to make things better. Looking ahead, my new venture, Cherry's Festive Corner, will dedicate a portion of its profits to our local community—supporting the lonely, sharing knowledge, and aiding those needing a hand.
If you are still thinking about me and whether I am Foreign or Citizen, ask yourself this question and, just like me, look for the answer within yourself.
If contribution is measured by hard work, civic duty, economic input, and a legacy of good citizenship, I ask you: is seven years too short a time to earn your place?
I believe the answer is clear.
And in those quiet moments of doubt, I trusted Ed Sheeran’s words: Maybe we found love right where we are.Thank you, Ed – from the bottom of my heart.
