Windrush exhibition and celebration of culture hailed 'great success'

The Windrush Exhibition Telford & Wrekin was held at Telford Elim Community Church on Friday, open to members of the local community and members of the Windrush generation.

It was originally launched at Telford College last year, created to honour the memories of families who travelled thousands of miles to help rebuild Britain after the Second World War.

Telford African & Afro-Caribbean Resource Centre (TARC) has spent the last few weeks touring Telford's schools speaking to pupils on the theme of 'Unity in Diversity'.

Natalie Headley, founder of TARC said: "We believe it went really well we had quite a few of the Windrush generation with us and it was good to see that they were excited to see their pictures on the board.

"It was really well attended and we had some Jamaican nibbles that went really well. It was a good exhibition, we had everything on the wall and a PowerPoint showcasing the generation who we weren't able to get on the wall."

Natalie said that a lot of factory workers, bus workers and those who worked at the railway station, who came to Britain between 1948 and 1971, resided in Telford.

The exhibition paid tribute to Rupert Scott, who arrived in Telford in 1958 and settled in Wellington where he became a pastor at New Testament Church of God.

With his wife Lennet, the pair served their community in a number of ways and were known as 'Mommy and Daddy' among their peers.

The exhibition was also an event to mark Black History Month, which runs from October 1 to October 31, to commemorate the history, achievements and contributions of black people.

Natalie believes she has seen more than 4,000 students while delivering workshops which focus on the often uncomfortable historical journey from colonies to Commonwealth.

"It's our shared history and to many, it is an unknown history. It's often uncomfortable, but the younger generation needs to understand where they've come from to understand where they're going," Natalie added.

"Many students don't even realise that Britain once conquered a third of the world.

"We have those difficult conversations about how that happened and about slavery and forced labour, but we also talk about how the Commonwealth was created, the revolutions and the democracy and consent.

"We do it so we can strive on the values of the Commonwealth as it is now, share in those values of unity."

People arriving in the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries have been labelled the Windrush generation.

It refers to the ship MV Empire Windrush, which docked in Tilbury on 22 June 1948, bringing workers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other islands, to help fill post-war UK labour shortages.

The ship carried 492 passengers - many of them children.

The scandal, which broke in April 2018, saw the UK government apologise for deportation threats made to Commonwealth citizens' children.

Despite living and working in the UK for decades, many were told they were there illegally because of a lack of official paperwork.