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PIONEERS: Windrush Generation

THIS DEFINITIVE and groundbreaking Key Stage Two Education Resource is available free to the general public, especially to teachers, students, guardians, and anyone in the community interested in assisting young people to learn, understand and appreciate post-war history and heritage of Caribbean people in the UK.

The Resource has been produced and published by Windrush Foundation, the 1996 originator of MV Empire Windrush stories as told by the late Sam King MBE and Arthur Torrington who came up with the ideas that have created nationwide and international interest.

Sam, who served King and Country in the Royal Air Force, was the only man who kept the names and UK address of his many friends travelling with him on MV Empire Windrush and who disembarked at Tilbury Docks, Essex, on 22 June 1948.

In 1988 he led the 40th anniversary celebration of the arrival of the ship and was supported by Lambeth Council, London. There is a plaque at Lambeth Town Hall to mark the event. Also, he was first to have coined the name or term ‘Windrush Generation’ but he more often used ‘Windrush Pioneers’ because they were the ones who laid the foundation for the Caribbean men and women who settled in Britain after 22 June 1948.

The 50th anniversary was celebrated in June 1998, the highlight being a reception hosted by HRH Prince Charles at St James’s Palace, and attended by dozens of Empire Windrush pioneers.

They were honoured along with many WWII ex-servicemen and women who were also seen as Windrush pioneers. They were the ones who laid the foundation for other migrants who later settled in the UK and contributed to the rebuilding of this country after WWII.

The ‘Windrush Generation’ includes parents and children who arrived during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, as they also contributed to Britain’s modernity and prosperity. Some of them had been denied British Citizenship, their human rights and liberties. The British Government has apologised and promised to rectify the situation. Compensation has also been promised and an Independent Review has been conducted to help Government learn lessons from what is being called the ‘Windrush Scandal’.

The 70th Anniversary celebration has also produced two original documents to enhance the public’s knowledge of Empire Windrush stories and their significance in the establishment of the post-war Caribbean community in Britain.

On offer from www.windrushfoundation.com is the Empire Windrush Education Resource, prepared by education practitioners and community advocates, and published by Windrush Foundation.

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