A Windrush 75 Community Fund is open until April 26 to support further community events that focus on celebrating, commemorating and boosting our communities. The Brixton Project and the council have been running engagement sessions with local community groups since early this year in preparation for the fund opening.
The Empire Windrush landed on 22 June 1948 with many of the arrivals spending their first month in rented lodgings in the deep shelter underneath Clapham South Tube station before settling in Brixton, the site of the nearest labour exchange. This begin the area’s celebrated association with Caribbean culture.
Over the following decades the Windrush Generation, who were invited to the country to help rebuild post-war Britain, have fought hard to overcome discrimination and prejudice to build a huge legacy through their contribution to public service, culture and our wider economy.
Cllr Jacqui Dyer, Lambeth’s Deputy Leader (Inclusive Economy and Equalities), said: “Lambeth is proud to be the home of the Windrush Generation and has run annual Windrush Day events to share the history, stories, and experiences of the Windrush Generation and their descendants, to ensure their legacy is both recognised and celebrated.
“This year, the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush is particularly significant and we are working with our community to channel their creativity, to share their stories and involve our young people in learning about this important chapter in our national history.
“There is a brilliant patchwork of organisations across our borough that we are working with to ensure Windrush Day 75 events have their own uniquely Lambeth flavour.”
To mark Windrush 75, the council is working with The Brixton Project on the procession to commemorate the Windrush Generation, celebrate their influence on and contribution to modern Britain and to bring the community together. There will also be new online resources and educational materials for local schools created.
The Lambeth Procession, organised by the Brixton Project, is planned to follow a path from Brockwell Park to Brixton’s Windrush Square. The procession will tell the story of those who travelled to Britain through five connected themes, which demonstrate the rich history, spirit and culture of Caribbean people who have settled in the UK:
- Ancestry: Nanny Maroon
- Island Life: Departure and Arrival
- Building Britain: The people who re-built Britain, celebrating the contribution to the NHS, transport network, the World Wars, those who have done or are doing extraordinary things
- Carnival: The nature of indomitable spirit and irrepressible joy
- Future: Calling for an equal future
