Voices of Windrush Festival

Community SOS

Can you help us to celebrate the Windrush generation and community?

Are you a descendant of the Windrush generation or a friend or supporter?

The Voices of Windrush Festival, started in 2021, plans to mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Windrush and the symbolic start of the movement of 500,000 people from the Caribbean. Of course we know there were people from the Caribbean in the UK much earlier than that but we're running with the symbolism.

To put on the quality of events planned, we need your help with fundraising from within the community. A pound, a fiver, more if you can, will help us not only out on a festival we can be proud of, but kick start the legacy fund by which we hope to create a major permanent project for the benefit of our youth and our elders.

So just to update you on a few things:

The festival will feature a soft launch of its programme on the 25th of March 2023, in Windrush Square.

The festival will have a range of activities across June to August 2023, and will kick off with a diplomatic reception and the paying of homage to fallen soldiers, heroes and heroines, in partnership with the CARICOM High Commissions. It will also feature a series of events, activities, panel discussions, debates, films, exhibitions and more, across themes which include: arrival, resistance and struggle, art and culture, fashion, genealogy, love and families, entrepreneurship, education, health and wellbeing, young people, religion and politics, the Windrush scandal, criminal justice and more.

There's also a full programme of theatre, dance, book launches, cooking demonstrations, song and spoken word, to complement the festival.

The festival is built around a series of events across London, and a few outside of London, but there's an exciting static pavilion which will run at weekends with events, stalls, demonstrations, workshops etc.

The festival will culminate in awards and treats for Windrush elders.

We commissioned Zita Holbourne, artist and author extraordinaire, to provide the festival creative image. It's excellent and will appear on our merchandise and in our branding. We hope you'll support the festival by buying an item from our Website.

The festival is a charitable concern. This Go Fund Me is to support the production of the festival and a precursor to a major Windrush legacy project which we expect to cost millions. Any surpluses from the festival will go to the start of the legacy project.

If you'd like to link an event to the festival, host an event, provide a space (especially away from London) as part of the festival, please contact Savannah Morrison, the festival's coordinator. Please also contact Savannah if you'd like to have a stall in the pavilion.

If you'd like to be featured in our daily social media quotes of what Windrush 75 means to you, or sponsor an event or activity, please contact Rupy, the festival's creative designer. We're looking for inspirational quotes with your photos.

The team roles are as follows:

Jacqui - founder and creator

Savannah - coordinator

Rupy - creative events

Frances - history and research

You can follow Voices of Windrush on social media (easy to find) and check in with our website for fuller details, after the launch.

www.voicesofwindrush.com

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#Windrush75 #History #Geneology #Caribbeanhistory

#Caribbeanmigration #immigration

#Education #WindrushScandal

#HMTWindrush