Mansfield Museum to receive more than £17,000 funding towards Windrush Day project

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has awarded a grant of £17,949 to Mansfield District Council’s Cultural Services Team towards the project.

First officially recognised as a day of celebration in 2017, Windrush Day takes place on June 22, each year to mark the anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush on June 22, 1948.

According to records, the ship was carrying 1,027 passengers, 802 of whom gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the Caribbean; additional documented countries of residence are India, Pakistan, Kenya and South Africa.

Sian Booth, cultural services manager, said: “Through this funding, Mansfield residents will be encouraged to learn more about the area’s black history and celebrate the local and national contribution made by the Windrush generation through a new temporary exhibition at Mansfield Museum called It Runs Through Us.

“The project will collate and give profile to existing research by Black History Ambassadors as well as undertake research to unearth hidden black history locally.”

Mansfield residents are invited to Mansfield Market Place on Wednesday, June 22, when it will come alive with sounds and soul of the Caribbean, from Ska to calypso and grime to reggae, including a performance from Distant Drums.

This event will kick start the project which will be followed by a temporary exhibition.

The exhibition will conclude with a celebration event with representatives from a cross section of Mansfield’s diverse communities. This event will acknowledge the vital contribution of immigration to the local economy and public services and the rich diversity of Mansfield’s communities over time.

Coun Stuart Richardson, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Growth, said: “Windrush Day highlights the amazing legacy of the Windrush Generation to British society.

"Following the Second World War, the UK was in urgent need of repair. The Windrush Generation came over, largely from the Caribbean, to undertake a variety of jobs with the purpose of rebuilding the nation.

“Windrush Day also shines a light on how the Windrush Generation laid the foundations for the Black British society we know today.”