National Windrush Day

An event to mark Windrush Day was held at Brooke Mead seniors housing scheme in Brighton.

Residents from council-run seniors housing schemes across the city took part in the event held ahead of National Windrush Day on 22 June.

Actor and playwright Victor Richards performed ‘Streets Paved with Gold’, a play based on the arrival of the Empire Windrush, which brought 492 people from the Caribbean in 1948. The performance was followed by a Caribbean buffet for residents.

The event was organised to celebrate and support diversity in our seniors housing schemes.

Council leader, Councillor Nancy Platts, said: “The Windrush generation changed our country for the better, bringing a new diversity to British social, cultural and political life. 

“This was not without hardship for those who arrived 70 years ago and even recent treatment of the Windrush generation has been shockingly callous. That must not continue. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who came here and made their lives in our country. 
 
“In Brighton & Hove, we’re a city of sanctuary, a proud statement of commitment to welcoming people from around the world.”

The Windrush Generation

Windrush Day marks the anniversary of the docking of MV Empire Windrush at the Port of Tilbury, near London, on 22 June 1948. The arrival of the Empire Windrush over 70 years ago marked a seminal moment in Britain’s history and has come to represent the rich diversity of this nation.

The people who arrived on the Empire Windrush, their descendants and those who followed them have made and continue to make an enormous contribution to Britain, not just in the vital work of rebuilding the country and public services following World War Two, but in enriching our shared social, economic, cultural and religious life.