Here: Windrush 75 Leeds features 75 portraits of the Windrush Generation residents of Leeds, which will be on display across the city, and is a celebration of their lives and the important contribution made by Caribbean people to the social and economic life of Leeds.

Join us for this special lunchtime event featuring music and light entertainment as we announce the locations of these public portraits. The market’s digital screen will also display all 75 images of the Leeds Windrush Generation.

There will be interview opportunities with some of those from the Windrush Generation and Howard Gardner, son of 97-year-old Alford Gardner, the last surviving Windrush passenger in Leeds. The father and son are joint authors of a new book, Finding Home: A Windrush Story, charting Alford’s story.

Sisters Xina Broderick Gooding and Gay Gooding Kershaw have a strong connection to the installation. Their late father Hugh Gooding was the first black owner of a funeral parlour in the city and he, along with their grandparents Frank and Beryl Gooding, who came over from Barbados, are among those featured in the project.

Xina and Gay said: “Here: Windrush 75 Leeds offers a voice to generations of Caribbean heritage people whose engaging, diverse and important family histories have remained outside broader British history, for too long. 

“We are honoured that our family can be a part of this valuable project; not only because of the incredible love and pride we hold for our forebears and their achievements, but because their faces and their stories are now included as a visible representation of the Windrush generation’s wider contribution to British culture, economy, history and society.”

Leeds City councillor Eileen Taylor (Lab/Chapel Allerton), part of the Windrush Generation and the city’s first black Lord Mayor in 2020, said Windrush Day (June 22) is an important day for many people. “This is very important to me and to the City of Leeds as we commemorate and celebrate the past and present heroes.

“While there are now numerous celebratory events and commemorations going on around Windrush Day, once the festivities end, there is little permanence. There are no major collections or permanent Windrush exhibitions. There has been no museum dedicated to its history with the significance of other major British museums. And there is no major institution for children to view the legacies of the Windrush generation and their impact on Britain.”

Councillor Taylor added: “In addition to their contribution to the workforce, the Windrush generation and their descendants have made a significant social and cultural impact on British society. There’s a lot to do in ensuring that our younger generation understands how important the Windrush generation is and the contribution they have given to rebuild this country.”

Pancy Patterson, former chair of the Jamaica Society Leeds and a retired midwife, said it was important the Windrush generation was not forgotten. “In light of the recent Windrush scandal, Windrush Day is a valid and worthwhile celebration and something that means a lot to my generation as it highlights our many contributions to Britain.

“Most people today may not know we came over as British citizens back then. To have that taken away from some of us is disappointing. I came here and trained in nursing and midwifery like many Caribbean women and men. We were optimistic and enthusiastic and worked hard to build the NHS.

“We didn’t think we were making history, we responded to a request to help a Britain battered by the war, and a personal desire to improve our lives. I didn’t focus on the hardships, or the racism, but in spite of that we built a community, started families and campaigned for a fairer Britain and that’s all we can hope for – especially for the next generations.”

Over the past four years, the Jamaica Society Leeds has been delivering a set of projects that document stories of the Windrush Generation and their descendants, and this Windrush 75 project is another addition to building a cohesive archive of materials which may one day find a permanent home in Leeds.

Here: Windrush 75 Leeds runs from June 19 to July 2, 2023.

For more information go to Windrush 75 – Jamaica Society Leeds