Latest News
October 2023
WindFest 2023 at the MET on the 1st October 2023
Preston Windrush Generation and Descendants UK with Dominica and friends hosted the first WindFest of 2023
SUNDAY 1 October 2023 WINDFest of Music, Art and Culture Time: 1.00pm - 10.00pm BST
WINDFest brings the Windrush Caribbean cultures together under one roof. Poets, singers, street artists and homegrown artists from Preston Community.
June 2023
Voices of Preston’s Windrush Generation
From the earliest arrivals of what would become Preston’s “Windrush generation”, the status of the Caribbean diaspora was hotly contested in this post-industrial Lancashire town, as elsewhere. Discrimination and prejudice dogged the daily lives of people from the Caribbean who made their home here.
Click here to read full article
June 2023
Preston Caribbean Carnival with Dominica and friends for Windrush
April 2023
March 2023
Windrush Question Time
5 February 2023
5 News Report - August 2022
Report says Home Office need to make changes to stop similar situation to Windrush scandal | 5 News
The Windrush scandal turned the lives of hundreds of British citizens upside down - many were wrongly threatened with deportation and others banned from returning to the UK. It meant they lost jobs, homes and denied even basic legal rights.
Well, a report out today says the Home office needs to make 'fundamental' improvements or it risks a similar scandal,
22nd June 2022
Windrush Day 2022 - Blackpool
Blackpool's famous landmark was lit in the Windrush Day colours of red, gold, green and blue to make the event on Wednesday (June 22), in a show of support by Blackpool Council.
And as the tower was lit up in the evening, there was a gathering on the Comedy Carpet of Fylde coast members of the Windrush generation and their relatives.
Preston-born Glenda Andrew BEM, the co-founder of Preston Windrush Generation and Descendants UK, spoke at the event at Blackpool and later said: “It was wonderful for us to hold this event in Blackpool.
"Many cities and large town across the country have celebrated Windrush Day by hoisting up a flag, which is great, but Blackpool has gone one better by lighting up the tower!
"I have always loved Blackpool because my parents, who were part of the Windrush generation, always took us here when we were growing up in Preston.
"We’ve had great support from Blackpool Council in lighting up the tower and getting behind our celebrations.
"Windrush Day is bitter sweet – sweet because of the national celebration of our communities in Great Britain, but bitter because some of the injustices of the Windrush Scandal have not gone away.
"People who lost their jobs and their homes because they were wrongly targeted for deportation have still not received the compensation they were promised by the Government.”
Dawn Poleon, of Blackpool, who is a voluntary admin officer for Glenda and Preston Windrush Generation and Descendants UK, was also at the event.
She said: “This is an historic occasion for the Windrush Generation and their families as it has never been done before.
"Blackpool is showing its support to all African and Caribbean people across the country as well as those who are local.
As the Tower lit up, the gathering on Blackpool seafront celebrated the occasion with music provided by DJ Respect from Manchester.
Among those attending the event were representatives of Blackpool Council.
24th February 2022
Update of the Oral Hearing for theJudicial review, finally Home Office in the dock! - 24th February 2022
"I have always loved Blackpool because my parents, who were part of the Windrush generation, always took us here when we were growing up in Preston. "We’ve had great support from Blackpool Council in lighting up the tower and getting behind our celebrations. "Windrush Day is bitter sweet – sweet because of the national celebration of our communities in Great Britain, but bitter because some of the injustices of the Windrush Scandal have not gone away. "People who lost their jobs and their homes because they were wrongly targeted for deportation have still not received the compensation they were promised by the Government.”
You may not know Judicial Review permission hearings are usually allocated for half an hour. On Thursday 24th February, Anthony Brown's hearing was allocated two hours but the hearing went on all day. That for me is a great sign. We will have to wait for the judges' decision; we don't know how long!
All the issues were aired on the Windrush Scheme and the Windrush Compensation scheme being not fit for purpose.
Encouraged by Anthony Brown's "fire at will" command, we have added an article to our new website, at https://www.thewindrushact.com/judicial-review that has been written by a supporter who was at the oral hearing.
You're welcome to share this and any more information.
Please contact Roland Houslin for the team at this email address: thewindrushact@wdlegal.co.uk
Thank you
Glenda
#TheWindrushAct
3rd February 2022
Windrush generation descendant puts the Home Office in the dock
The Windrush generation and their descendants are still being treated as immigrants despite being British, and so need protection via a Windrush Act, a judicial review appeal hearing will be told next Tuesday (8th February 2022)
Read Press Statement 3rd February 2022
Anthony Brown, who arrived from Jamaica with his parents as a 6-year-old boy, is appealing the decision to refuse his request for a judicial review of the Windrush Citizenship and Compensation schemes if they are fit for purpose. The oral hearing will be at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, on Tuesday 8th February.
Mr Brown argues that the Government’s Windrush Scheme, meant to right the injustice done to people from former British colonies who were threatened with deportation, is still treating members of the Windrush generation and their descendants as foreigners who must prove they have a right to citizenship. He says that the new Nationality and Borders Bill, currently going through Parliament, will make the situation worse by allowing the Government to remove citizenship from people without their knowledge in a way that discriminates against ethnic minorities or people with dual nationalities.
The only way to right this injustice, he will argue, is by passing a ‘Windrush Act’ that explicitly protects his rights and those of people like him. Nearly half a million people from the Caribbean arrived in the UK after the second world war when the British Government invited them to travel to Britain to help rebuild the ‘mother country’. For many years this ‘Windrush Generation’ and their children required no specific documents to prove their right to live and work in the UK – they were citizens by right because they came from British colonies.
The 1971 Immigration Act, introduced following the independence of former colonies, gave Commonwealth citizens who were living in the UK at the time Indefinite Leave to Remain. But the Home Office failed to keep a record of who was granted leave to remain or issue any paperwork to confirm their status, and in 2010 destroyed the landing cards of Windrush Generation citizens.
19th October 2021
Farm to Fork
Farm to Fork with Preston Windrush Generation and Descendants - a Windrush Community Response!
Windrush Pie Coming Soon from HMP Kirkham
For more details contact Klare Lukacs at klare.lukacs@justice.gov.uk
11th January 2021
Windrush Generation take legal action against the Home Secretary for her continued failure to right a historic injustice
We are applying for a Judicial Review against the Home Secretary Priti Patel for refusing to amend the laws which deprived many of their British citizenship, despite them having lived most of their lives in the UK. We are calling for a 'Windrush Act' to ensure no Windrush survivor or their descendents risk being treated as foreigners in their own country in the future.
We are also calling for a minimum £10,000 reparation for all Windrush victims to compensate for what they have already suffered.
Read Press Statement 11th january 20215th January 2021
Give the Windrush Generation their Citizenship back! Pass the Windrush Act!
Anthony Brown’s letter of 22nd June 2020 to the Home Secretary requested the following actions to be taken:
1) All people who were born as either British Subjects prior to 1948 or as Citizens of the UK and Colonies post-1948 and who had been settled in the UK for a period of 5 years by 1 January 1983, should, for the purposes of the Immigration Act 1971 and the British Nationality Act 1981, be treated as having continued to be Citizens of the UK and Colonies throughout this period irrespective of the impact of any independence legislation passed in relation to their countries of origin.
2) An additional payment should be made on top of any compensation to everyone that successfully applies to the Windrush Scheme from the Caribbean who came before 1st January 1973 of £10,000 automatically as a symbolic payment of reparation for the harm cited in recommendation (1) of the Wendy Williams Windrush Lessons Learned Review.
Read Press Statement 5th January 2021Granada Reports
In case you missed our feature on ITV Granada Reports the other day, here is the link
https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2020-12-30/preston-windrush-generation-volunteers-serving-soul-food-to-vulnerable-search-for-permanent-base
Please share with family, colleagues and friends, also councillors and MPS
Xavier Sanctuary
Pictures and videos from our year at the Xavier Sanctuary, Sharoe Green Lane Fulwood where the Windrush Community Response prepares and cooks meals.
Dave Williams -Slver Afro - Santa comes to WCR KITCHEN - Funny
Preston Windrush Christmas Day Meal 2020
WCR Chris Warren - Live preparations on Xmas Eve
We are ready for WCR XMAS
We would like to wish all our volunteers and recipients (Windrush seniors and the Wider community of Preston, Lancashire) all those who have donated, Windrush Defenders, WD Legal C.I.C. - FreeTalk Family! Windrush Community here in the UK and abroad! Joel & Alyson Malach (Equality and Diversity UK) Windrush National Organisation, and Preston City Council their help and support to make these 34 weeks so far amidst the challenges of COVID 19
Best wishes for the new year. Love Sekeena, Glenda, Anthony and the PWGD UK Team
Latest videos - December 2020
Marks Projects - Windrush Community Windrush https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxCAChF_Sdk
This is Christmas Windrush - By Ashton & Riversway PACT in Preston - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRmw91f_t0Y
Silver AFro TV - Dominica & Friends - Preston
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZHVE75YOwI
We look back to 2020- Community outreach - Windrush Community Response
Windrush Lives
Windrush Lives is more than an organisation We are real victims with real cases
Join the campaign that speaks for you and every victim of the windrush scandal
Website: http://www.windrushlives.co.uk
Email: windrush.lives@gmail.com
Burning Work in the wake of Windrush: The Report
The Windrush Defenders Legal C.I.C. digital forum joined forces with the West Indian Sports and Social Club, Louise Da-Cocodia Education Trust and Arawak Walton Housing Association to bridge insights from community testimony, research, and legal analysis.
Inspired by the testimony of the Windrush Generation, the aim of the digital forum was to amplify and coordinate the "Burning Work" of key community figures tackling racial disparities in areas of community cohesion, criminal justice, education, health and work.
This report was created collectively in the weeks after the event and aims to translate the digital forum into a form which can be used as a resource by the community from which it was produced and archived for the political education of future generations.
URGENT PAY WINDRUSH COMPENSATION – STOP DEPORTATIONS
Windrush Scandal
Template letter/email to MPs re the HS response to AB Letter – PAY WINDRUSH COMPENSATION – STOP DEPORTATIONS
Our address:
Date:
PAY WINDRUSH COMPENSATION – STOP DEPORTATIONS
Dear (Insert name)
We/I (Insert our organisation) regret the resignation of Former senior Home Office employee Alexandra Ankrah who reportedly says some colleagues showed ‘complete lack of humanity’ in processing Windrush Scandal compensation claims.
(Insert your organisation) notes the letter of 12th October 2020 by the Rt. Honorable Priti Patel, Home Secretary to Anthony Brown of Preston Windrush Generation & Descendants UK declining the proposal to make automatic payments to Windrush compensation claimants for having their citizenship status revoked. This is in addition to consequential losses compensation claims.
Consequently, (Insert your organisation) calls on the Government to remove the administration of the Windrush Compensation Scheme from the Home Office.
(Insert your organisation) supports the establishment of a Windrush Compensation Scheme Taskforce within the Race Disparity Unit at the Cabinet Office.
Background
An open letter was written to Priti Patel, Home Secretary, on rectifying the status of Windrush Victims by changing the law, automatic compensation after being successfully assessed through the Windrush Scheme, and tackling race disparities with the ‘Burning Work’ report.
Could you look at her response and reasoning to see how we could get her to think again. It would be a great relief for many of your Windrush Constituents who we continue to work with despite the lockdown if the proposal to pay £10k to those who have been successful through the Windrush Scheme could be accepted and paid in time for Christmas.
This would cost an estimated £50m for their citizenship being revoked in the first place.
Any compensation for consequential losses would be additional. This sum is based on around 5k people being granted citizenship or a document confirming their legal status (HS report the Home Affairs Select Committee 28th April 2020).
A number of Windrush victims have died and many are in limbo before receiving compensation and the Covid -19 pandemic disproportionately killing Black people could take many more at the rate the Home Office is going (only £1.8m paid in 18 months of an estimated compensation bill of £200m to £570m.
Must the Windrush Generation wait 200 years?!
The recent resignation of Alexandra Ankrah and her report that the compensation claimants are receiving ‘Inhuman treatment’ is alarming and should presage the removal of the administration of the Compensation Scheme from the Home Office. Goodness only knows what it is costing to administer.
Link to article in the Guardian
We would be grateful for any support you could muster among fellow MP’s, Labour and Conservative, to join a Zoom call on Monday 7th December 7 pm to 8 pm. Or if you could suggest a time that would be better for most MP’s.
We are seeking to bring people affected from a number of constituencies around the country to make MP’s aware of the issues they are facing with the Home Office.
The Home Office must pay compensation and stop deportations of the descendants of the Windrush Generation.
Please see the attached documents:• Anthony Brown’s Open Letter to Priti Patel dated, Windrush Day, 22nd June 2020• Photo of Anthony’s family referred to in the letter before leaving Jamaica for the UK, 1967• The Burning Works Report Intergenerational Conference on tackling race disparities in Community Cohesion, Criminal Justice, Education, Health, and Work.• Right Honourable Priti Patel, Home Secretary’s letter to Anthony Brown dated 12th October 2020We wish to share these documents widely on social media, and by any means necessary to take action and to promote a public debate on the delays in compensating the Windrush Generation as justice delayed is justice denied.
We would also like you to be named as a supporter of our campaign to get earlier compensation by Christmas for the Windrush Generation.
Thank you again for your help and support
I look forward to hearing from you on the said matter.
Please get in touch to join the Windrush (Movement ) Generation and Descendants
Windrush is a scandal. . . FreeTalk is our Vision
Windrush Conference - FreeTalk - Tuesday, 24th November 2020 at 8:30pm - ZOOM
2 Days to go. . . Windrush Conference - FreeTalk Our Guests this week are Amelia Gentlemen ( Guardian Reporter) and author of the new book, Windrush Betrayal and Jacqueline McKenzie been helping Caribbean-born Britons, who had come to live in the UK decades ago but were provided no official documentation, to prove their right to live in the country. We will talk about the Windrush Letter to Prii Patel and MPS and Updates about the threatened Deportations. . . BRING YOUR QUESTIONS - If anyone needs urgent assistance or help with their status or like to know about compensation for themselves please contact Preston WINDRUSH Email us at: info@prestonwindrush.co.uk Mobile: 07564732983 EVERYONE WELCOME - ALL COMONWEALTH - EU CITIZENS
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