Marking Windrush Day: capturing memories for the future

A place to share and celebrate living memories of the local Windrush generation and their descendants could soon be created in Bath if government funding for the project is approved.

Work is already underway on ‘The Living Room’ project, which will collect the histories of members of the Windrush generation living in Bath and North East Somerset and develop a physical and digital place to exhibit them for the community to learn from and enjoy.

Bath & North East Somerset Council has supported a joint bid for 2021 Windrush Day government funding with project lead partner the Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens’ Association (BEMSCA) with the Black Families’ Education Support Group (BFESG) and B in Bath.

Windrush Day takes place each year on June 22 and honours the British Caribbean community and the half a million people who travelled to the UK after the Second World War. The first Windrush Day was held in 2018.

The Living Room project would permanently capture living memories through artefacts, images, records and photographs reflecting the experiences of the local Windrush generation and their descendants. 

It would aim to trigger memories and stories about the unique places, people and experiences that characterise the local community, as distinct from other Caribbean communities in the UK. 

Councillor Dine Romero, cabinet member for Children & Young People, Communities and Culture, said: “The Living Room is an innovative project which we hope would enable our entire community to share in the memories of those members of the Windrush Generation who live in B&NES.

“It would provide a physical and digital place where we will be able to hear the history told by its experts: those people who lived it - in their own words. By talking about their lives, work and families we would be able to share in their pride and begin to understand their impact on our lives.

“Today, Windrush Day 2021, is time for us all to reflect upon the contributions the Windrush generation continue to make and how they laid the foundations for the Black British society we know today.”

On Sunday (June 20) a special Windrush Day service was held at Christ Church in Bath, where throughout the 1950s and 1960s a large number of the black community worshipped. Members of the local Caribbean community were joined by Bishop Ruth Worsley and the Mayor of Bath, June Player. The experiences of some of those who made the journey from the Caribbean to the UK were shared by their grandchildren with the congregation. You can watch the service on the Christ Church Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3qfNGgE

Pauline Swaby-Wallace, BEMSCA Project Co-ordinator, said: “The opening greetings from Rev’d Rose Hudson- Wilkin, Bishop of Dover spoke of standing on the shoulders of those that dared to dream of the journey, took the struggle and to make England their home. The youngers that read in the Windrush service are the future achievers and carry the legacy of the proud Windrush generation.”