Root2Ginger Celebrates Windrush Day 22nd June

Root2Ginger will be celebrating Windrush on 24th June with CAHN- Caribbean & African Health Network in Alexander Park Manchester. Dancing, Music, Live Performance, Workshops and more.

HMT Empire Windrush arrived in Britain on 22nd June 1948. On board over 1000 passengers from the Caribbean. This year marks 75 years since Windrush and is an opportunity to celebrate the legacy of the Windrush generation and the richness of Caribbean culture in the UK today. The ‘Windrush’ generation are those who arrived in the UK from Caribbean countries between 1948 and 1973. Many took up jobs in the NHS, public transport and industries affected by Britain’s post-war<labour<shortage. The ‘Windrush scandal’. Under the<1971 Immigration Act, people who had arrived from Commonwealth countries before January 1973 were given the “right of abode” in the UK since they were all considered British as part of Commonwealth. However, in many cases the government did not provide documents or keep records confirming this status. In 2018, the National Audit Office published a<report which found that people who had been living in the UK as settled residents for decades under the 1971 Act had been adversely affected by immigration legislation created by successive UK governments. Specifically, people from the Windrush generation who lacked UK passports or sufficient documentation to prove their right to reside reported instances of detention; deportation; loss of employment; homelessness; loss of access to healthcare and benefits; and being unable to return if they left the UK. This was referred to as the “Windrush scandal”. From 2018 onwards, successive home secretaries have acknowledged the Windrush generation had been treated unfairly and have apologised. In April 2019, the<government introduced the Windrush compensation scheme, which is intended to provide compensation for those affected by the Windrush scandal. On 06 April 2023, the Home Office published the latest set of data on the Scheme, which covers the period to the end of February 2023. The total amount paid or offered to claimants through the scheme has increased to over £68.27 million." A 2021 report by JUSTICE on the need to reform the scheme said that Home Office support to claimants is inadequate." According to the report, only 12.8 percent of the estimated 11,500 eligible claimants had been compensated under the scheme as of January 2023.