Grants to Promote and Celebrate the Contribution of the Windrush Generation to Our Nation
£750,000 TO SUPPORT FOURTY-FIVE COMMUNITY LED PROJECTS ACROSS ENGLAND, THANKS TO THE WINDRUSH DAY GRANT SCHEME 23
The inspiring local projects funded under the Windrush Day Grant Scheme 2023 (WDGS 2023) aim to commemorate and celebrate Windrush day, as well as educate people about the contribution of the Windrush generation and their descendants to our nation.
Near Neighbours is delighted to play a key role in delivering these essential grants to community led projects across the UK. The WDGS shares our vision of bringing people together to learn from each other, grow in understanding, and build positive and lasting relationships between diverse groups.
Sarah Wallace, Director of Programmes, and Innovation, says; “We believe that better relationships and understanding helps build better communities for everyone, and teaming up with DLUCH to support Windrush events in our county is a chance for us to put a spotlight on the Windrush generation; to remember their enormous contribution in building a better UK, and positively affecting the lives of many generations, those who are here, and all those who are yet to come.”
We thank the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for the £750,000 funding that will directly support community led projects this year. With years of experience in delivering community grant schemes, we know that supporting local people to design and deliver community projects is the best way to achieve positive and lasting change.
Paulette Simpson CBE said; “This year’s celebration of the British Caribbean community will be extra special, as we mark the arrival of the MV Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks 75 years ago.” She also shared; “From those first passengers who went on to build their lives and make their home here, those that followed, and their descendants have and continue to make an enormous contribution to all aspects of British life”, and asked everyone to participate in the celebrations and events; I’d urge everyone to get involved in this significant moment in our shared history.” - Source
Each funded project will be holding a celebration event or a small activity to mark the Windrush Day on 22nd June
Here are a few examples of the funded projects that aim to educate the community and honour the Windrush legacy through the use of creative art, concerts, textiles, exhibitions, inter-generational projects, festivals, and other creative means.
1. Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens Association (BEMSCA)
BEMSCA will create an interactive exhibition celebrating the life of Bath’s Windrush generation. Visitors will enjoy a lively and educational experience through a unique mural showcasing the Windrush story, artefacts, photos, audio and video interviews with members of the Caribbean community living in Bath. Read more about BEMSCA’s project here.
2. Creheart-Collective - West Midlands
GIVING VOICES will celebrate the contribution of the black and migrant communities in Dudley. Young adults of Afro-Caribbean descent will create a cross-disciplinary stage piece to celebrate the Windrush generation’s contribution to the society. The performance will be showcased at Creheart Community Centre and Brierley Hill civic hall.
3. Gunnersbury Estate CIC - London
The project, Jigsaw Heritage, will feature an installation and an accompanying programming. The exhibition is inspired by an artist’s grandmother’s voyage to the UK towards the end of the Windrush period. It consists of textile pieces blending traditional Jamaican cloth patterns with samples of an artist’s grandmother’s handwriting, wallpaper from her home and imagery found in the furnishings of Windrush homes. Read more about Gunnersbury Estate CIC’s project here.
The project will celebrate and educate people about the arrival and contribution of the Windrush generation to the UK through the medium of gospel music. Delivering a number of singing workshops to provide an immersive experience for school children in Bristol. The project will be initiated through rehearsals leading to a performance to be held on National Windrush Day 2023 and will end with a showcase performance, highlighting the work achieved in the workshops. Read more about Renewal Choir’s project here.
5. Lewisham Churches Care - London
This project will celebrate and commemorate the 75th Windrush anniversary through two fun-filled events for 100 people, one in Lambeth and one in Lewisham. Events will feature Caribbean food and music, drumming and quadrille workshops, and interactive theatre. Leading up to the events, members will participate in an intergenerational photography project to be exhibited in several locales in South London. The project will educate and commemorate through members’ personally and historically significant mementos. Read more about Lewisham Churches Care’s project here.
6. Craftspace - West Midlands
This intergenerational project will celebrate how textile crafts and making travelled from the Caribbean to England through ‘Dorcas Clubs’, a female network based within the newly formed black-led Pentecostal and Evangelical churches that emerged in 1950s and 60s Britain. A group of Caribbean artists and elders in Birmingham will collaboratively devise a ‘Front Room’ exhibit in a city centre shop space as a stimulus for audiences. Read more about Craftspace’s project here.
7. Manchester City of Literature - North West
Manchester City of Literature will work with three Pentecostal churches in South Manchester to deliver an intergenerational project. Young people from Manchester will work with church elders, capturing their experiences of Windrush and faith, collaboratively producing podcasts and short documentary films which will be launched on digital platforms on National Windrush Day. Read more about Manchester City of Literature’s project here.
For a full list of Windrush Day projects taking place in 2023, please click here.
What is Windrush Day and why do we feel it’s important to honour it?
WINDRUSH DAY MARKS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARRIVAL OF MV EMPIRE WINDRUSH AT THE PORT OF TILBURY, NEAR LONDON, ON 21 JUNE 1948. HOWEVER, PASSENGERS DISEMBARKED A DAY LATER 22 JUNE 1948 – HENCE WHY THIS HAS COME TO BE KNOWN AS WINDRUSH DAY.
The arrival of the Empire Windrush nearly 73 years ago marked a seminal moment in Britain’s history and has come to represent the rich diversity of this nation.
Those 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 WWII but in enriching our shared social, economic, cultural, and religious life.
Overcoming great sacrifice and hardship, the Windrush Generation and their descendants have gone on to lead the field across public life, in business, the arts and sport. Britain would be much diminished without their contribution.
Lee Rowley MP, Minister for Communities, said: “We wanted to celebrate the positive contribution the Windrush generation and their families bring to this country and recognise the contributions made by all British Caribbean people in our communities.” - Source.
Photo above: 2022 Windrush Day Grant Recipient - Bristol Windrush Reggae Choir hosted by Bristol Reggae Orchestra. Photo by Mark Simmons Photography.