Windrush Day, is an acknowledgement of the Windrush Generation’s impact in Britain. Over the last two years we have worked with Lambeth Events to deliver a programme of community engagement, the celebration falls on 22nd June each year.
In 2020, COVID-19 restrictions changed our approach to the engagement, not only did it need to happen online, it needed to be very sensitive to and aligned with the impact of the pandemic on the community.
We developed an arts and music activation that would maximise the opportunity for local people of all ages to participate in a celebration of Windrush Day without mass gathering. With this in mind we were able to work with X to create the Windrush Song, a new recording of You Can Get It If You Really Want was recorded by a selection of Brixton’s professional musicians via a video conferencing call. The community was brought together at 10:27am on Monday 22nd June 2020 to sing from their doorsteps, garden or window – the time referencing the 1,027 passengers aboard the Windrush when it docked at Tilbury on 22 June 1948.
Each year we collaborate with a local artist to create an emblem and activities pack, in 2020 we worked with Carolyne Hill and in 2021 young artist Seonaid Gowdie; both artists created wonderful designs that spoke to journey, lives and experiences of the ancestors who arrived Britain.
