A flag raising will be held at HRI this Friday, 20th June at 10:00 to mark Windrush Day (which is officially marked on Sunday, 22nd June). Due to the current building works at CRH the flag will be raised without a gathering.

Race and Equality Network Chair and Quality Improvement Lead, Deehan Mair, has shared a few words about the day: "Windrush Day takes each year to mark the anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush on 22 June 1948 and is now officially recognised nationwide and within the Caribbean community.

"Windrush is a day of importance as it was the first time Commonwealth citizens from the Caribbean, upon the request of the British Government, docked at Tilbury port to help rebuild a broken Britain after World War II. They were some of the first people who came to the UK under the power of choice; not through fear of persecution or war, or against their will.

"Windrush Day is more than celebrating a boat. It's a day to recognise and thank all those who arrived on Empire Windrush (known as the Windrush Generation), and their descendants, for the enormous contributions they made to Britain during its recovery from the Second World War and have continued to make ever since.

"Windrush Day shows a shift in the power that Britain once had over the rest of the world and the beginning of its dependence on Commonwealth citizens and migrant workers from across the globe. The day should be celebrated as it highlights the amazing legacy of the Windrush Generation to British society and shines a light on how the Windrush Generation laid the foundations for the Black British society we know today."