On the 22nd June 1948, the Empire Windrush arrived at the Port of Tilbury. Today, we remember the five hundred passengers who stepped off as the first of the Windrush Generation, who travelled from the Caribbean to work and settle in the UK between 1948 and 1971.
National Windrush Day marks the anniversary of this arrival and reflects upon the enduring contribution of the Windrush Generation and their descendants to the UK’s social, cultural, and economic life.
In June 2020 with the generous support of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and in partnership with Reading’s Caribbean community, we created a range of online resources below, teaching, celebrating and commemorating the Windrush story.
Discover fun-filled activity packs for families and toolkits for teachers. Listen to Gold Dust radio for brilliant live music and local voices discussing the Windrush in Reading. And explore acclaimed digital exhibition, Enigma of Arrival: The Politics and Poetry of Caribbean Migration to Britain.
The exhibition was brought to Reading Museum through an exciting partnership with Barbados Museum & Historical Society, and it was produced in the Caribbean by the EU-LAC Museums Partnership. It tells the Windrush story from the Islands’ unique perspective, through images, archives and first-hand accounts.