Publish date: 22 June 2023
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the MV Empire Windrush in the United Kingdom.
In June 1948, the same year the NHS was created, the passenger liner and cruise ship ‘Empire Windrush’ arrived at the port of Tilbury, on the River Thames, carrying hundreds of people from the Caribbean. In the years that followed, tens of thousands of people – men, women and children, encouraged, at first, by the British Nationality Act –answered Britain’s call to come to a nation short of workers and vital skills to help to build our country’s struggling economy and fledgling health service; they left their homes and crossed an ocean to start new lives here.
Hear from Garrick Prayogg, Public Governor in our magazine as he talks about what Windrush means for him.
"Their story may be 75 years old – but it will live on forever."
"It has often been said that the NHS could not function without its black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff."
Also, see our dedicated feature of Windrush in our magazine.
