Lighting up the library for Windrush Day 2025
After sunset on Sunday 22 June 2025 the exterior façade of the Library of Birmingham will be lit up in a Waves pattern in support of the 77th anniversary of the first arrival of HMT Windrush.
SUNDAY 22nd JUNE 2025
Windrush Day is a commemoration in the United Kingdom held on 22 June to honour the contributions of migrants to the post-war economy. Specifically, it celebrates African-Caribbeans who began arriving on the HMT Empire Windrush in 1948. Later known as the "Windrush generation", these economic migrants were an important part of the UK's recovery from the privations of World War II .
On 22 June 1948, 492 Caribbean people arrived at Tilbury Docks, Essex, in the UK, on the Empire Windrush ship. News reports at the time reported that the number of people was 492, but the ship's records show that the ship was carrying 1,027 passengers. According to the passenger lists, 802 of those on board the ship gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the Caribbean. Despite a vast labour surplus in the United Kingdom in the aftermath of World War 2, African-Caribbean migrants independently travelled to the United Kingdom to find work. These jobs included the production of steel, coal, iron, and food, and also jobs in the service sector, such as running public transport and staffing the new National Health Service in the United Kingdom.
There is no record of the post-war Labour government (in power at the time of the arrival of the Empire Windrush) encouraging African-Caribbean migrants to settle in the United Kingdom. Many early immigrants were denied access to private employment and accommodation because of the colour of their skin. Black people were also banned from many pubs, clubs, and even churches.
The purpose of Windrush Day is to encourage "communities across the country to celebrate the contribution of the Windrush Generation and their descendants", according to the United Kingdom government.