After the war, Britain sought help from the people of its colonies to rebuild the mother country – and many thousands responded.
The Windrush generation were pioneers with a wide range of skills – some gained while serving in the British Armed Forces during the war – which were needed for the rebuilding task. They contributed most notably, initially, to the transport system and the new National Health Service hospitals (and the cricket teams!) following their arrival on the HMT Empire Windrush, a passenger motor ship, from the West Indies in 1948.
Many of them joined the earlier influx of Irish Catholics to places like Willesden and Kilburn in London. Now, 60–70 years later, they and their children (second to fifth generation) are largely integrated into the everyday life of London and other conurbations including Merseyside.
What a shock it was for many of us, therefore, when the Guardian newspaper broke the story of the Windrush scandal in 2018. The paper highlighted case after case of Home Office brutality towards the Windrush generation: retirement-age citizens who had lived and paid taxes in the UK for decades had been detained, made homeless, sacked or denied benefits and NHS treatment because they had struggled to prove they were British. Many, wishing to visit their birthplace and relatives in the West Indies, were denied this dream because they had never been issued with passports.
What is the relevance of this to our archdiocese? In October 2023 a new advocacy group, Liverpool Advocates for Windrush (LAW), was founded to guide families through the complex process of rectifying their immigration status. The charitable organisation was set up by a lawyer (Tonika Stephenson) and a campaigner for social justice (Garrick Prayogg), both descendants of Windrush immigrants.
With the help of students from the Liverpool John Moores University Law clinic, they produced a survey, aimed at members of the Windrush Generation and their descendants residing in Liverpool, and were amazed by the response. ‘At first, we thought that if we got a hundred responses it would be a wholly worthwhile exercise. The questionnaire closed in January and to our surprise we received 1,022 responses from across the region including Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens, Wirral, Runcorn and Warrington.’ Evidence, they add, of ‘how important the issue remains across Merseyside.’
According to the former deputy leader of Knowsley council, Louise Harbour, ‘LAW has uncovered a minimum of 180 affected residents in the Knowsley area alone, indicating that this number may just be the tip of the iceberg. I’ll be doing everything I can to highlight the issue and find opportunities for us as a community to help and assist in whatever way we can.’
Interestingly, the British historian, writer and broadcaster David Olusoga has discovered that in March 1947, before the arrival of the Windrush, the SS Ormonde transported the first group of 108 Jamaican workers to Britain and they landed at Liverpool.
Locally, the Atkinson Library on Southport’s Lord Street has a free exhibition, ‘Windrush: Our Story, Our Community’, which runs until 18 January next year. This was guest-curated by the Southport African-Caribbean Heritage Association. Further afield, for those visiting London, the Royal Museums Greenwich (rmg.co.uk) have a marvellous exhibition of Windrush memorabilia. Finally, here’s a thought: for next year why not organise a Merseyside celebration of Windrush Day on 22 June?
• To learn more about LAW or seek free advice, contact: liverpooladvocatesforwindrush.org/
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