Windrush exhibition finds permanent home

The stories of those who came to British shores from the Caribbean has got a permanent home in Sandwell.

An exhibition celebrating the contributions and achievements of the migrants who arrived in Britain between 1948 and 1971 was the centrepiece of Sandwell Libraries Black History Month display.

And the exhibition, which features images, biographical information and poems about the people involved, remains at Central Library in West Bromwich.

It will help to raise awareness of the input the Windrush generation had in restoring Britain's labour shortage in the aftermath of the Second World War.

The exhibition has been put together by Poet Amanda Hemmings, who wrote one of the poems featured in the exhibition "1954" about her grandfather's experiences of migrating to Britain from Jamaica.

She spoke about the positive feedback she had received from the community about the exhibition.

She said: "Feedback of the exhibition includes people saying it has inspired diverse groups of younger generations to have conversations with parents and grandparents on their early life experiences.

"One person said to me: ‘Your poem made me talk to my Grandad and start asking him questions. He’s 93 and not very well, but he started to smile when he was telling me about the friends he made when he came to England; we were both laughing, he seemed so much happier in himself.’"

The exhibition can be seen at Central Library, High Street, West Bromwich.

For more details about the library, go to http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/info/200261/libraries/811/central_library_west_bromwich