DCMS funds arts projects to mark 75th anniversary of Windrush

Arts projects in England have received funding to mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush.

The government-backed Windrush Day Grant Scheme has this year distributed £750,000 to 45 arts, educational and sporting projects.

Awards range from £5,203 for the Brighton Book Festival to £40,000 for a festival of arts activity and month-long schools programme organised by the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham, London.

The community-led initiatives will mark the Windrush 75 anniversary with events and activities between 8 June and 31 August.

The Blackstory Partnership in Birmingham will present an event at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 22 June for National Windrush Day, with performances of West Indian folk songs and the launch of the book ‘Windrush Generation – This Is Our Story’.

Other funded events include ‘Here: Windrush 75 Leeds’, a series of large-scale portraits across the city presented by Jamaica Society Leeds, and ‘Back Home’, a photographic and augmented reality project from Friction Arts at the Library of Birmingham.

Minister for Communities, Lee Rowley, said: "We wanted to celebrate the positive contribution the Windrush generation and their families bring to this country and recognise the contributions made by all British Caribbean people in our communities.

"Bringing people together is a way to ensure better understanding and social cohesion."