Windrush Community Fund Phase 1: case studies
Updated 19 May 2022
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Mission Diverse CIC
Background
This is a Birmingham-based organisation that seeks to educate people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities, including young people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. They do this through their education and enterprise programmes and workshops that prepare people within the community to enter into the workplace or start their own business. They also work with organisations to shift the narrative and mindset of how people view individuals from diverse backgrounds, through training, workshops and peer-to-peer mentoring support.
The project
Their Community Fund project includes an education campaign designed to reach people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities, raising awareness of the Windrush Schemes through advertisements on buses; printed materials (flyers, stickers etc) strategically positioned to raise awareness and build trust; and information booklets providing details about ways in which readers can access support. Watch the Mission Diverse Community Fund project video in action.
In addition, Mission Diverse ran a series of community workshops to educate and inform affected communities. These events were scheduled to coincide with key events such as Black History Month, Jamaica Independence Day and Commonwealth Day.
St Vincent and Grenadines 2nd Generation (SV2G)
Background
This is an African and Caribbean arts and heritage community organisation, based in Buckinghamshire. The organisation has a range of creative arts and heritage projects that empower and develop young people and families of various backgrounds. SV2G is a dynamic organisation that has created new forms of learning through cultural projects with inter-generational audiences, to address inequalities faced by African and Caribbean communities. SV2G delivers regular music lessons and other arts-based sessions during the weekends and one-to-one tuition after school at their town centre location.
The project
The SV2G Community Fund project has been raising awareness of the Windrush Schemes through short films and advertisements containing extracts from long-standing public figures from within the African-Caribbean community. Key outlets for their promotional work have included their social media platforms, local radio stations and newspapers showcasing the short films and running advertisements. Watch one of SV2G’s promotional videos.
SV2G also extend their promotional work through their connections with national and international organisations such as St. Vincent & the Grenadines National Council, Bucks BAME Network and St. Vincent & the Grenadines International Diaspora Group (UK, Canada, USA).
Chat’s Palace
Background
Chats Palace is an arts centre with a civic role, empowering local people in Hackney, London. Their programme works at a multiplicity of levels to reach out and enable processes by which Hackney residents may play a more active part in their community. Their key focus areas are with those who are marginalised, excluded or without a voice; working in partnership, they devise and deliver projects that combine artistic and social interaction to engender positive, life-long change. Their programme builds on strong foundation (founded in 1976) with an artist-led creative plan that attracts new audiences, encourages participation and stimulates creative and professional development.
A snapshot of a promotional flyer: Chats Palace.
The project
Using the shared expertise from a network of local community groups They have produced flyers disseminating information about the Windrush Schemes. The project skilfully uses design techniques which enabling them to tailor artwork to the needs of affected communities using, using language, imagery, and examples of lived experiences that will resonate with their readers.
Community leaders and local residents, representative of the targeted community groups, will feature in short films aimed to reach people who may not otherwise receive this information. By featuring familiar faces and voices the project is able to reach and bestow their messages in ways that contextually, and empathetically demonstrate the relevance of the Windrush Schemes within those communities. Working in partnership with local churches and charities the project is reaching across demographic and age-related barriers to reach members of the older generations within the local African-Caribbean and Muslim communities.
Citizen’s Outreach Coalition
Background
The organisation seeks to improve the lives of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and other Liverpool residents by providing job training, health advice, promoting arts and cultures of African and other BAME people. This is an organisation which also has offices in Kenya and Sierra Leone, and they have plans to open branches in other African and some Caribbean countries in the near future. Operating under the motto ‘empowering communities’, this is a people-centred organisation working within local communities and concerned with their social and economic well-being.
An image of the Citizen Outreach Coalition.
The project
A multimedia awareness project targeting people from Commonwealth countries, particularly African and Caribbean migrants and their descendants living in Merseyside. As part of a suite of Windrush commemorative events, Citizen Outreach Coalition held a public awareness campaign (pictured above) in the heart of the Liverpool city centre, distributing flyers and signposting people to their open surgeries.
The project is extending its reach into affected communities through their videos, radio announcements, newspaper articles and their social media channels.
Waltham Forest, Antigua, Barbuda, and Dominica Twinning Association (WFTA)
Background
WFTA has a stated mission to ‘… promote friendship, information exchange and mutual understanding of cultural, recreational and commercial activities of the linked areas’. This London-based grassroots community organisation has organised projects and activities that not only provide information for self-development but also support and provide room for growth in cultural and heritage awareness within the community. From computer skills projects (‘Silver Surfers’) for older members of their communities to inter-generational sponsored walks raising funds for Age UK, Alzheimer’s Association and Sickle Cell societies, WFTA is addressing the combined concerns of people from the Caribbean.
An image of an information session at WFTA.
The project
Having strong links with Caribbean communities, this intergenerational project has hosted a series of online events, surgeries and drop-in sessions such as the one pictured here, to raise awareness of the Schemes. Working collaboratively with other community organisations, WFTA’s ‘Windrush Reach Project’ has delivered a range of activities and events including a Windrush Day exhibition and video. An afternoon of food and entertainment provided the backdrop for an in-person one-to-one surgery at their ‘Social Surgery at Vestry House Museum’ event. A further social event provided an opportunity for people from affected communities to share some of their life story.
Butetown Community Association
Background
This community organisation, based in Cardiff, Wales, has managed a vibrant local community centre at the heart of the community for over 50 years. The charity aims to address social exclusion, isolation and poverty related issues. Alongside its partners, the organisation supports the local BAME community with projects designed to enhance quality of life by focussing on educational, health, well-being and recreational activities.
Butetown Community Centre has a long history of welcoming migrants to Wales, working within and alongside Windrush and Commonwealth communities. They provide culturally appropriate services that support local communities and are accessible and inclusive to all including the original, older Windrush generation with whom they have had a long-standing association since the 1960s.
An information session and presentation ceremony at Butetown.
The project
This project takes advantage of its deep ties with older Windrushians, using their events to capture details of their experiences to celebrate the Windrush generations. The online and in-person events captivate participants with their engaging personal stories that inspire, inform and encourage others to seek advice and help with immigration, documentation or compensation claims.
Targeting the African and Caribbean communities, their information sessions, have gained the attention of people across the generations, increasing their understanding of the support available for potential Windrush claimants. Their use of social media channels has proved effective in extending their reach in the community and sign-posting enquirers to appropriate support.
Renewal, Advancement, Financial Freedom, Autonomy International Development Agency (RAFFA)
Background
RAFFA engages in partnership activities with local, regional and national stakeholders to embrace the challenges and opportunities associated with the integration and development of people principally from Africa and the Caribbean but from other destinations also.
The organisation, based in Birmingham, supports people through early-stage support, technical assistance, and programme development projects, through which they enable individuals, groups, and local communities to build capacity and tackle issues such as health and well-being inequalities, learning and skills, and youth development.
RAFFA’s leadership and community management work has inspired and empowered individuals and organisations throughout the UK, Africa, North America, and the Caribbean to address inequalities in their communities.
An image of an appearance on Annette B’s (TV Presenter) chat show at RAFFA.
The project
Using its network of volunteers, the project interacts with community groups and large church communities, reaching out to thousands of potential Windrush Schemes applicants. A programme of online symposiums, workshops and presentations serve to bridge the gap between the Home Office and potential Windrush victims, informing them of their entitlement and encouraging them to have the confidence to engage with the Home Office and independent assistance services, and make applications to the Schemes.
The project has taken advantage of its strong links with church groups, a regional mental health organisation and engaged with community groups for vulnerable people. The above picture shows that they are also reaching out via their links with popular community figures, such as singer and TV Presenter Annette B. Additional activities have included talks for students at a local college and an online series of video conversations, featuring guest appearances from prominent members of the community, delivering information and reminiscing and celebrating the past and on-going contributions of the Windrush generation.
Collage Arts
Background
Collage Arts is an arts development organisation and educational charity that started in 1985 to support artists and creativity in its many forms. Over the past 35 years, they have developed into a champion of community arts and arts activism, including issue-based equalities work for wide-ranging communities in and around Haringey and North London. Past projects include the production of videos highlighting the plight of 50 Caribbean families affected by the Windrush scandal. This community of actor-activists shone a light on the experiences and the impact on the affected communities.
The project
An intergenerational project, incorporating a series of infomercials/animated films, downloadable podcasts targeted at African, Caribbean and other community groups, delivered via radio stations and social media channels. Video content is strategically aimed at the descendants of Windrush communities, raising their awareness and encouraging their engagement in the drive to empower potential Windrush applicants with the knowledge and confidence to apply to the Schemes. You can watch one of their infomercial videos.
Their online creativity is bolstered by printed media signposting local communities to their resources and an in-person event held at their community venue will allow opportunity for further advice, guidance, and support.
Pilgrim Church Charitable Trust
Background
With its foundation rooted in the Christian church, this Nottingham-based organisation is known for its outstanding work as a leader in tackling hate crime in the community and its influence nationally. Working in partnership as part of Nottingham Citizens UK the organisation was awarded the outstanding contribution as a community organising group in tackling hate crime at the hate crime awards in 2018. This resulted in radical changes for both the City Council and to the Nottinghamshire Police to have dedicated staff and creating pathways for people to report hate crime to the police and council.
The organisation is also one of the founding members of the Nottingham Majority Black Led Churches network which has been seeking to bring together the African and African Caribbean led congregations to look at issues affecting the black community in Nottingham. Their engagement with the local authority, Nottinghamshire Police, universities and The British Army has contributed towards addressing issues of inequality at these institutions and tackling issues regarding black youth.
An image of the Pilgrim Church tea party engagement event.
An image of the Pilgrim Black Excellence event.
The project
Using the extensive network of churches, housing associations, community groups and other prominent individuals from various section of the community, this Community Fund project has run promotional campaigns, reaching out to people of African descent and to those from other Commonwealth countries. The project has produced printed material and distributed these at engagement events held by local churches and at community social events. Other awareness raising activities have included radio interviews and a range of social media and online outreach work.