This week in whole school assembly we celebrated the Windrush Generation. Each year the country marks Windrush Day on 22nd June.

On this day in 1948, many people made the long journey to England migrating from the Caribbean. I shared with the children information about the incredible valuable role the Windrush Generation played in helping to rebuild England after World War 2, especially in the NHS and transport industry.

We discussed the obstacles and inequalities which many people from the Windrush Generation suffered and yet despite this they still helped power England to post-war prosperity – enhancing the richness of diversity here. In addition to this we shared the story of Dame Floella Benjamin and the immense contributions she has made to the country. I also spoke to the children about the late, great Lord Herman
Ouseley.

The Windrush Generation is significant for me – not because my dad was part of it; but because he migrated to Australia from Trinidad and Tobago in the early sixties to begin a new life. There is no acknowledgment of what was one ship in that era that brought people from the Caribbean to Australia. My dad arrived with a small group of his mates from the tropical heat of Trinidad to the middle of a cold winter in Melbourne and didn’t quite know if he’d made the right decision! Fortunately for me and my siblings he stayed and met my mum! Growing up we did not have any mixed families to socialise with and my dad was very much isolated from a Caribbean community. That said, my siblings and I felt so privileged to grow up in a house where we experienced a lot of Caribbean culture and celebration. This motivated me to want to travel and see where my dad grew up and spent his life as a boy and young person.

Arriving in England was amazing because naively I had no comprehension of how large the Caribbean community was. For me it helped fill a massive gap in my life because as I said – as children we never had any Caribbean families around us. The massively positive impact the Windrush Generation has had on the UK is a wonderful phenomenon and a powerful symbol of the richness of diversity we have here.