The SRF was formed in 1999 following the suggestion of a meeting, by Dr Elaine Arnold, between a number of women whom she had interviewed concerning the trauma of separation from and reunion with their parents. The women first met in Central London, in a building belonging to another Women's Group, and subsequently at Nafsiyat* Intercultural Centre.

At the first meeting the women talked animatedly of their different experiences of the pain of parental loss, also of loving care received from their grandmothers and other members of the extended families. They recalled the confusion resulting from the separation, loss and later reunion with unknown parents / others, younger siblings, and the shock of arrival in a foreign country so different from their home countries.

Also discussed were some of the horrors they experienced in their new homes in Britain, within their families, schools and the wider community: a familiar experience to many born and left in the Caribbean with extended family members during their formative years.