The local community in Lambeth, the home of the Windrush Generation, is working with the council on an extra special celebration this summer to mark the 75th anniversary of the HMT Empire Windrush arriving in Britain. Events proposed for 22 June 2023 include a procession to Brixton’s Windrush Square and a local education programme.

A Windrush 75 Community Fund is open until 26 April 2023 to support further community events that focus on celebrating, commemorating and boosting our communities. The Brixton Project and the council have been running engagement sessions with local community groups since early this year in preparation for the fund opening.

The Empire Windrush landed on 22 June 1948 with many of the arrivals spending their first month in rented lodgings in the deep shelter underneath Clapham South Tube station before settling in Brixton, the site of the nearest labour exchange. This began the area’s celebrated association with Caribbean culture.

Over the following decades the Windrush Generation, who were invited to the country to help rebuild post-war Britain, have fought hard to overcome discrimination and prejudice to build a huge legacy through their contribution to public service, culture and our wider economy.