Latest news with #CaribbeanMigration
BBC News
24-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Wellingborough's Windrush community join the streets to celebrate
People have come out into the streets of a town to celebrate the contribution Caribbean migrants and their families have made to the in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, joined together to mark the event of Windrush Day on Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, in 1948, bringing hundreds of passengers from the Francis, 82, who is a part of the Windrush generation, said: "Many people don't know about Windrush, and they need to understand what it is all about." Travellers on HMT Empire Windrush - and those on other ships which came to the UK until 1971 - became known as the Windrush Francis said she left her home in Montserrat in 1961 to come to the UK, where she had living in Wellingborough, Ms Francis said: "It is important for people to know our history and why we come here. The government needed us to come and work."People came here and tried to get accommodation and that was very hard."Many people find these things very easy now, but in our days it was not that easy." The event was in partnership with the town council, Northamptonshire Rights & Equality Council, Made with Many, Wellingborough African Caribbean Association, and the Wellingborough Windrush Innovation Day has been held on 22 June since 2018 to celebrate the legacy of the Windrush was set up in the wake of the Windrush scandal, when thousands of people were wrongly classed as illegal then prime minister, Theresa May, apologised for their treatment and a compensation scheme was established. Glenroy Bell from the Windrush Innovation Society, in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, said: "This year, organisations have come together to make it a bigger event."It is part of my personal heritage, my grandparents came over from Jamaica in the 50s."We want to celebrate the positive things of what the Caribbean members have done in the UK." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Yahoo
Windrush events 'intergenerational' says organiser
One of the organisers of a series of events to mark Windrush Day said he wanted to make them as "intergenerational" as possible. Windrush Day has been held on 22 June since 2018 to celebrate the contribution Caribbean migrants and their families have made to the UK. HMT Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, in 1948, bringing hundreds of passengers from the Caribbean to the UK. Glenroy Bell from the Windrush Innovation Society, in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, said: "This year, the idea was different community groups come together and launch a series of events, not just on Windrush Day, but before and weeks after." Travellers on HMT Empire Windrush - and those on other ships which came to the UK until 1971 - became known as the Windrush generation. Among them were Mr Bell's grandparents, who arrived in the UK in the early 1950s. He said this year's events started on 13 June with a talk from Prof Patrick Vernon OBE, who was one of the first to campaign for a Windrush Day. The following weekend, there was a storytelling event for children with stories from the Windrush generation. "We really want to sort of capture [the Windrush generation's] stories and be reminding of our first generations as best as we can, but the next generation to keep it going," Mr Bell said. Mr Bell said when the organisers of the town's Windrush Day events met last year, "one of the key things we wanted to make sure is that we have intergenerational activities". He added: "We wanted to make sure, as best as we can, it brings everybody together from every generation. "It was really important because it's not just the founders, those who first came here, it's also those who are here now and building Britain as we go along." One of the events is an art exhibition at Wellingborough's Swansgate Shopping Centre. It included "a Bob Marley walk" to commemorate what would have been Bob Marley's 80th birthday earlier this year. Mr Bell said: "It should be a four metre wide piece of art, which has got a [collage] of all the different images of Bob Marley. "It's hopefully a nice big work of art for people to sort of see as part of the exhibition." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. 'We have to remember' Windrush migrants 'Bad feeling' endures over Windrush scandal Wellingborough Windrush
BBC News
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Wellingborough Windrush events 'intergenerational' says organiser
One of the organisers of a series of events to mark Windrush Day said he wanted to make them as "intergenerational" as Day has been held on 22 June since 2018 to celebrate the contribution Caribbean migrants and their families have made to the Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, in 1948, bringing hundreds of passengers from the Caribbean to the Bell from the Windrush Innovation Society, in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, said: "This year, the idea was different community groups come together and launch a series of events, not just on Windrush Day, but before and weeks after." 'Building Britain' Travellers on HMT Empire Windrush - and those on other ships which came to the UK until 1971 - became known as the Windrush them were Mr Bell's grandparents, who arrived in the UK in the early said this year's events started on 13 June with a talk from Prof Patrick Vernon OBE, who was one of the first to campaign for a Windrush following weekend, there was a storytelling event for children with stories from the Windrush generation."We really want to sort of capture [the Windrush generation's] stories and be reminding of our first generations as best as we can, but the next generation to keep it going," Mr Bell said. Mr Bell said when the organisers of the town's Windrush Day events met last year, "one of the key things we wanted to make sure is that we have intergenerational activities".He added: "We wanted to make sure, as best as we can, it brings everybody together from every generation."It was really important because it's not just the founders, those who first came here, it's also those who are here now and building Britain as we go along." One of the events is an art exhibition at Wellingborough's Swansgate Shopping included "a Bob Marley walk" to commemorate what would have been Bob Marley's 80th birthday earlier this Bell said: "It should be a four metre wide piece of art, which has got a [collage] of all the different images of Bob Marley."It's hopefully a nice big work of art for people to sort of see as part of the exhibition." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
20-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Who were the Windrush generation and what is Windrush Day?
Windrush Day has been held on 22 June since 2018, to celebrate the contribution Caribbean migrants and their families have made to the Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, in 1948, bringing hundreds of passengers from the Caribbean to the 2018, it emerged that the government had not properly recorded the details of people granted permission to stay in the UK, and many were wrongly mistreated. What is the Windrush generation? HMT Empire Windrush became a symbol of a wider mass-migration in the Caribbean were invited to the UK to help rebuild post-war to the National Archives, which holds the ship's passenger list, there were 1,027 people on board. More than 800 gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the hundred passengers were Jamaican, but others arrived from islands including Trinidad, St Lucia, Grenada and travellers - and those on other ships which came to the UK until 1971 - became known as the Windrush had served in the British armed forces in World War Two. Why did the Windrush generation come to Britain? In 1948, the British Nationality Act gave people from colonies the right to live and work in government needed workers to help fill post-war labour shortages and rebuild the countries were also struggling economically, and job vacancies in the UK offered an of those who came became manual workers, drivers, cleaners, and nurses in the newly established NHS. What is Windrush Day? Commemoration events have been held on 22 June every year since 2023, the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Windrush was marked with a series of concerts, exhibitions and seminars across the Charles, who held a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark the anniversary, hailed the Windrush generation's "profound and permanent contribution to British life".This year will see events taking place around the country, including a number sponsored by the government's Windrush Day Grant Scheme. Where are the Windrush generation now? It is unclear how many people from the Windrush generation are still in the UK, but the number is thought to be in the are among more than 500,000 UK residents who were born in a Commonwealth country and arrived before 1971, according to University of Oxford estimates. What was the Windrush scandal? The 1971 Immigration Act gave Commonwealth citizens living in the UK indefinite leave to remain - the permanent right to live and work in the included the Windrush generation, but also people from other former British colonies in South Asia and Africa. However, in April 2018, it emerged that the UK Home Office had kept no records of those granted permission to stay, and had not issued the paperwork they needed to confirm their had also destroyed landing cards belonging to Windrush migrants, in affected were unable to prove they were in the country legally and were prevented from accessing healthcare, work and were also threatened with deportation.A review of historical cases also found that at least 83 people who had arrived before 1973 had been wrongly deported. What did the government do about the Windrush scandal? In April 2018, then-Prime Minister Theresa May apologised for the treatment of those affected. An inquiry was announced and a compensation scheme inquiry, which reported in March 2020, said that the scandal was both "foreseeable and avoidable", and criticised "a culture of disbelief and carelessness" in the Home made 30 recommendations, including:a full Home Office review of the UK's "hostile environment" immigration policyappointing a migrants' commissionerestablishing a race advisory boardInquiry author Wendy Williams warned there was a "grave risk" of similar problems happening again without government Secretary Priti Patel accepted the recommendations in full. But in January 2023, then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman announced the Home office was dropping three of the commitments:to appoint a migrants' commissioner responsible for "speaking up for migrants and those affected by the system directly or indirectly"to give the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration new powersto hold events with people affected to "listen and reflect on their stories"The High Court later ruled that Ms Braverman acted unlawfully by dropping the measures relating to a migrants' commissioner and the chief inspector of borders and June 2025, the Reverend Clive Foster was appointed as the first Windrush Commissioner - seven years after the scandal was first exposed.A top priority will be looking at how to improve the Windrush Compensation Scheme which has been described by campaigners as "torturous". How does the Windrush Compensation Scheme work? The Windrush Compensation Scheme was established in April 2019, and about 15,000 people were thought to be the scheme has been consistently criticised for processing delays, low offers, and unfair rejections reversed on 2021, MPs found the scheme had itself become a further trauma for those eligible. The Home Affairs Committe said many of those affected were "still too fearful of the Home Office to apply".In April 2023, Human Rights Watch said the scheme was "failing" victims, and repeated calls for it to be removed from the Home Office's response, the Home Office said it was "committed to righting the wrongs of Windrush".In October 2024, Labour Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced an additional £1.5m of funding to help victims apply for of April 2025, the scheme had paid out more than £110m.
BBC News
12-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Wolverhampton hosts Windrush Day events
Windrush Day is to be celebrated in Wolverhampton later this annual event celebrates the contributions that Caribbean migrants and their descendants have made to the City Council will host a flag-raising ceremony outside the Civic Centre at 10:30 GMT on 22 June.A bust of Mel Chevannes, the city's first African-Caribbean councillor, will then be unveiled at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. Chevannes was elected to the Graiseley Ward in 1981 and served as a councillor for 11 years, later becoming the first African-Caribbean chairperson of The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust."I am humbled to be honoured by a bronze bust in the city of Wolverhampton, which has been my home for the last 50 years," she said."It is truly amazing that this is the first such public recognition in England of a black woman who is very much alive."HMT Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, on 22 June 1948, bringing hundreds of passengers from the Caribbean to the UK, who were invited to rebuild post-war mayor Councillor Craig Collingswood said the council was delighted to highlight and celebrate the impact of the Windrush generation."Everyone is welcome to join us for the flag-raising and the unveiling, and I hope that as many residents as possible are able to come along and help us celebrate Windrush Day 2025," he added. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
