Who are the Windrush generation and what has sparked the row over their status in the UK?
MV Empire Windrush arrived at the Port of Tilbury on 21 June 1948 and its passengers disembarked a day later. The ship carried 492 Caribbean migrants, many of them veterans of the Second World War. The ship and its passengers have a symbolic status as the start of the Windrush Generation. The Windrush Generation denotes the people who emigrated from the Caribbean to Britain between the arrival of the MV Empire Windrush on 22 June 1948 and the Immigration Act 1971, including the passengers on the first ship.
The Windrush Generation, subsequent migrants, and their descendants have made a large contribution to Britain’s cultural, social and economic life. The intention is to recognise and promote understanding of this contribution and to make clear to those of Caribbean descent that Government values their enormous contribution to our national life and wishes to recognise that contribution. Government is therefore seeking to offer grants to support celebrations that recognise the arrival of MV Empire Windrush and the contribution of the Windrush Generation. www.vimeo.com/kingswayproject
