We will focus on the stories of Caribbean people who came to Greater Manchester during one of the most significant influxes of colonial British citizens, also known as the ‘Windrush Generation,’ during the very early stages of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. Project participants and beneficiaries will be people who have experience of the Queen’s reign when they were both in the Caribbean and when they migrated and began their lives in the UK. The project itself will focus on sharing and showcasing stories of their experiences, teachings, knowledge, thoughts and outlooks of the monarchy, both before and after they arrived in the UK. It will celebrate the cultural influences the UK and the monarchy has had on each separate stages of their lives.

Working closely with community groups and other voluntary organisations, we will shed light on the stories of the Windrush generation who migrated to Greater Manchester, by: 

• Running workshops to learn, listen and create informative stories of the uniqueness of African and Caribbean people, their heritage and culture and what migrating to England meant to them. We envision these stories will be via different art and media forms: art work, poetry and documentaries.

• We will engage younger generations of Windrush descendants to participate in the workshops, creating an intergenerational approach, providing insight on how being part of Windrush under the Queen’s early reign, has fed into the Black British experience across generations. 

• The workshops will be held in a central Manchester venue, ran on a weekly basis and engaging three separate groups of 20+ people through the year.

• The workshops will bring support, solidarity, community, as well as discussing what it means to create a safe space in order to feel confident and empowered to discuss our African-Caribbean heritage and experiences.