'Bad feeling' endures over Windrush scandal

Glenroy Bell, whose grandparents came from the Caribbean, has organised Wellingborough's Windrush Day event

An organiser of a Windrush Day event said more was needed to resolve the fallout from the scandal as there was still "a bad feeling".

In 2018, it emerged that thousands of people, mostly from the Caribbean, had been wrongly classed as illegal immigrants.

The then prime minister, Theresa May, apologised for their treatment and a compensation scheme was established.

Glenroy Bell, who is behind Wellingborough's Windrush Day event, said the scheme needed to be "revamped" to help those affected.

HMT Empire Windrush (pictured in 1954) brought Commonwealth citizens from the Caribbean to the UK

Windrush Day has been held on 22 June since 2018, to celebrate the contribution Caribbean migrants and their families have made to the UK.

HMT Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, in 1948, bringing hundreds of passengers from the Caribbean to the UK.

These travellers - and those on other ships which came to the UK until 1971 - became known as the Windrush generation.

Among them were Mr Bell's grandparents, who arrived in the UK in the early 1950s.

'New beginning'

He told BBC Radio Northampton: "It was opportunity taken, an invitation to come into the UK, they would come to work hard, make a living, and make a way for their children and grandchildren.

"So many took the voyage [for] adventure, new beginning and felt that it might have been better economically."

Mr Bell said he was taught about his Caribbean heritage through his mother and his grandparents.

"There was a very strong tradition, the elders led the way in this respect and they had their stories of where they all came from," he said.

The Windrush flag will be raised across the UK on Saturday to mark Windrush Day

Mr Bell said the Windrush scandal still "hasn't been resolved [through] the compensation scheme".

The scandal had "brought a lot of bad feeling" amongst the Windrush generation and their families.

"These people, left their homes, were asked to come here and build a home and a family and then to be treated in that way it is very sad," he said.

He added there were organisations in Northamptonshire "working hard as ambassadors" helping those entitled to compensation.

Mr Bell organised an event in Wellingborough for the 75th anniversary of Windrush last year and the town was hosting similar celebrations this year.

Events for Saturday include the raising the Windrush flag, a performance from a steel band, and a photography exhibition at the Castle Theatre.

The Home Office said earlier this year it was committed to "righting the wrongs" of the Windrush scandal.