Marking Windrush 75 in Derby
Published: 19 June 2023
The Windrush flag will fly in the Sir Peter Hilton Gardens.
Derby is marking 75 years of Windrush on Thursday 22 June.
Windrush Day marks the arrival of 800 passengers from the Caribbean at Tilbury Docks aboard HMT Empire Windrush in 1948. In marking this event we are recognising the contribution of Black British citizens to the UK, and the post war migration from across the commonwealth that has helped shape our country.
To help mark the occasion here in Derby, the Windrush flag will be raised at the Sir Peter Hilton Memorial Gardens on Thursday 22 June at 10.30am.
At 12.30 Dr Panya Banjoko will present a talk, at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, exploring how black people negotiated and managed migration during the Windrush years. There will be particular focus on how they worked to serve the needs of their communities in the face of challenges such as racial profiling and inadequate social provisions.
Dr Banjoko is the founder of Nottingham Black Archive, which has worked to recover stories and document the experiences of the Windrush generation, as well as soldiers from the First and Second World Wars.
You can find out more about this event and book your place on the Derby Museums website.
Events to mark Windrush Day will continue on Sunday 25 June with a Thanksgiving service at 11.30am at the Assemblies of the Firstborn, Holy Trinity Church on London Road. Following the service there will be an afternoon of entertainment to celebrate the history and contribution to Derby of the Windrush generation and their descendants.
Cllr Paul Hezelgrave, Cabinet Member for Cost of Living, Equalities and Customer Inclusion said:
Marking Windrush day is now a well-established event in Derby. I know that this annual recognition is an important event for many Black British residents with links to the Caribbean and from across the Commonwealth, particularly those from the Windrush generation who are still with us and their descendants.
These events give us an opportunity to learn more about the significance of the Windrush generation as they made their life in the UK.
Attitudes may have changed in the last 75 years, but we still have a way to go. It's only by sharing our stories that we can recognise each other's experiences and move forward together, which is why it's important to have occasions like Windrush Day.