Essential Information

Type Events and festivals
Location
National Maritime Museum
Date and Times Returning in 2024
Prices Free

HMT Empire Windrush arrived in Britain on 22 June 1948. On board were more than 800 passengers from the Caribbean.

Each year on 22 June the National Maritime Museum partners with the Caribbean Social Forum and a range of local schools and young people to showcase Caribbean culture and the legacy of the Windrush generation in the UK today.

Discover your Windrush connections with our growing series of free online stories and resources, and sign up to our newsletter to hear about our plans for 2024 and more events at Royal Museums Greenwich.

The Windrush arrival marked a turning point, when Caribbeans came here to help re-build Britain, to work in the transport system, factories and the newly created NHS. So for those who had to overcome so much adversity, it has great significance”

 

Baroness Floella Benjamin
An image showing 'Windrush Day 2023'
An image showing 'Windrush Day 2023'
An image showing 'Windrush Day 2023'
An image showing 'Windrush Day 2023'
An image showing 'Windrush Day 2023'
An image showing 'Windrush Day 2023'
An image showing 'Windrush Day 2023'
An image showing 'Windrush Day 2023'
An image showing 'Windrush Day 2023'
Image

What is Windrush Day?

On 22 June 1948, Caribbean migrants arrived in the UK on the Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks in Essex, their first stop before travelling towards London.

Many people from British Commonwealth countries travelled to the UK between 1948 and 1971, encouraged by the 1948 British Nationality Act that granted citizenship and right of abode to all members of the British Empire

On arrival in the UK however, people were often met with racism, lack of acknowledgement of their professional skills and very different living conditions.

Windrush Day is a chance to celebrate British Caribbean communities, and acknowledge the sacrifices and contributions the Windrush generation and their descendants have made to British society.

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Our partners

Windrush Day 2023 at the National Maritime Museum was funded by Spirit of 2012, the London 2012 legacy fund. The programme is organised in partnership with the Caribbean Social Forum.

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