{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"Mike Clarke, Race Equity Board member for Scouts","standfirst":"75 years ago today, HMT Empire Windrush arrived in Britain. It marked the beginning of the \u2018Windrush generation\u2019 in the UK.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EKnown as \u2018Windrush 75\u2019, there are lots of exciting projects and activities taking place all across the UK to celebrate this historic anniversary.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe spoke to Scouts volunteer, Mike Clarke, to learn about his heritage and what Windrush 75 means to him.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/21168/mike-clarke-4.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"altText":"Mike Clarke today","caption":"Mike Clarke today","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHi, Mike. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019m \u003Cspan\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/our-people/race-equity-project-board/mike-clarke/\u0022\u003EMike Clarke\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/span\u003E and my heritage is Black British Caribbean. I\u2019m from Jamaican \u2018Windrush generation\u2019 parentage.\u00A0I\u2019ve also visited the same local South East London church for 45 years.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor 23 years, I\u2019ve worked in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in its various guises in the private, public, third and charity sectors.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was after a successful Macmillan event at the Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham that my national volunteering at Scouts began. I especially admired the presence of the Muslim Scouts there.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince then, I\u2019ve brought my EDI knowledge to the wonderful \u003Cspan\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/our-people/race-equity-project-board/\u0022\u003EScouts Race Equity Board\u003C/a\u003E,\u003C/span\u003E and I\u2019m keen to start volunteering at Scouts locally.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/21167/mike-clarke-3.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"altText":"Mike Clarke parents","caption":"Mike Clarke\u0027s parents on their wedding day","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s the significance of Windrush 75?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 75\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C/sup\u003E anniversary of Windrush marks the day in 1948 when HMT Empire Windrush arrived in Essex with 500 passengers from the Caribbean. They\u2019d answered the UK\u2019s invitation, by the Conservative government at the time, to take up jobs here and help rebuild this country, after the devastation and ravages of the second world war.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBetween 1948 and 1971, around 500,000 people arrived\u00A0in\u00A0the UK, including my parents.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWindrush pioneers had difficulty finding accommodation, being able to open bank accounts, or securing a loan or mortgage. My own father, like many from the Caribbean, used systems he was familiar with from home. One example is the \u2018Pardner\u2019, a co-operative method of saving money to buy a home. They also suffered racism at work and on the streets.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor many years, this vital piece of British history has been left out of school curriculums and off our TVs. We\u2019re now playing\u00A075\u00A0years of catch-up to educate a new generation, while reminding\u00A0older\u00A0ones.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/21165/mike-clarke-1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"altText":"Mike Clarke as a boy wearing a suit and bow tie, stood in front of a fence","caption":"Mike Clarke as a young boy","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat does Windrush 75 mean to you?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 1955, not long after my older sister was born, my father came to England from\u00A0Jamaica. A year later, he\u2019d saved enough for my mother\u00A0to join him.\u00A0A year after that, in September 1957, I was born in Lewisham, South London.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs someone born to Windrush generation parents, my life experiences and, crucially, theirs have definitely shaped me.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI was only a year old when the Notting Hill riots took place. White members of the local community attacked West Indian residences. There were disturbances, rioting and attacks every night for a week. They impacted my family for years.\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHaving grown up among the Windrush generation, they\u2019re the people I most admire. They left beautiful homelands to come to the UK to progress their dreams, then suffered such discrimination in employment, housing, financial and in many more ways.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEven so, they kept their heads held high, with the utmost dignity and respect. They gave my generation and those who follow us a chance of achieving our own dreams.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThrough our success, we help the Windrush generation know their personal sacrifices and indignities were not in vain. We stand on their shoulders, feeling their support, prayers and well-wishes, knowing they paved the way for us.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s race equity, and why\u2019s it important?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETaking no credit at all, I absolutely love \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/strategy/our-programmes-of-work/race-equity/what-we-mean-by-race-equity/\u0022\u003Ehow Scouts has defined and explained race equity\u003C/a\u003E. In short, it\u2019s about fairness. For Scouts, it\u2019s about giving everyone the same opportunity to develop their character and learn new skills, no matter their race or ethnicity.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EYoung people can make a positive contribution to their community in Scouts Districts and across the UK if they feel like they belong there as respected equals to their peers.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/21166/mike-clarke-2.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"altText":"Mike Clarke when he was younger, wearing a suit and bow tie","caption":"Mike when he was younger","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat does the Race Equity Board do?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe bring experience from our professional, voluntary and personal lives to help direct the \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/strategy/our-programmes-of-work/race-equity/what-we-mean-by-race-equity/\u0022\u003Erace equity project\u003C/a\u003E at Scouts.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EScouts are already helping almost half a million young people each week to develop skills for life. However, we know there\u2019s under-representation when it comes to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic young people and volunteers.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019re committed to make sure we achieve our vision of being more inclusive and welcoming to change this. So far, we\u2019ve worked our way through the extensive research that\u2019s gone into the race equity programme. And we\u2019ve got \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/strategy/our-programmes-of-work/race-equity/what-we-mean-by-race-equity/\u0022\u003Ebig plans to get more young people and volunteers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities into and thriving in Scouts\u003C/a\u003E by 2025.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat makes you optimistic for the future?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThroughout\u00A0my own career\u00A0and beyond, I\u2019ve\u00A0always\u00A0been inspired\u00A0to help right the wrongs of the\u00A0various\u00A0inequalities\u00A0and indignities that\u00A0my parents and the rest of the Windrush generation experienced.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd now, at Scouts, I just want to help more of their children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren, flourish.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019m hoping Scouts volunteers everywhere, especially because of the work of the Race Equity Project, will authentically invite young people from all backgrounds to join Scouts, but specifically those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds who aren\u2019t as represented at the moment. And I hope they\u2019ll realise the responsibility they\u2019ve to help them to stay in Scouts when they come.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019m grateful that today, 75 years on, we can pause and remember what the Windrush generation did for us. \u003Ca href=\u0022https://lauraserrant.com/you-called-and-we-came\u0022\u003EThey were called to come here, and they came.\u003C/a\u003E I\u2019m glad they did.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"type":"Promo","cta":"Go to the Scouts activity finder","body":"\u003Cp\u003ETake a look at our activities on the \u003Cspan\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/\u0022\u003EScouts Activity Finder,\u003C/a\u003E where you can find activities about Black History and Culture.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","link":{"name":null,"id":null,"url":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/","newWindow":false,"target":null},"colour":"#f1f1f1","title":"Want to learn more about Black history?","image":null,"imageFocus":"","imageId":0,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"22 June 2023","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[{"caption":"","title":"Find out more about our race equity project","url":"/volunteers/equity-diversity-and-inclusion/race-and-ethnicity/race-equity/","newWindow":true},{"caption":"","title":"What is race equity?","url":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/strategy/our-programmes-of-work/race-equity/what-we-mean-by-race-equity/","newWindow":true}],"relatedLinks":[{"caption":"","title":"Learn more about Mike","url":"/about-us/our-people/race-equity-project-board/mike-clarke/","newWindow":true},{"caption":"","title":"See who else is on our Race Equity Board","url":"/about-us/our-people/race-equity-project-board/","newWindow":true}],"id":50440,"nodeName":"What the 75th anniversary of Windrush means to me as a Scouts volunteer","title":"What the 75th anniversary of Windrush means to me as a Scouts volunteer","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/21163/mike-clarke-today.png?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1dab822117107b0","caption":"Mike Clarke Today","type":"png","size":1129597,"width":850,"height":540,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"What the 75th anniversary of Windrush means to me as a Scouts volunteer","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"We spoke to Scouts volunteer, Mike Clarke, to learn about his heritage and what Windrush 75 means to him.","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC81MDQ0MCJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2023/june/what-the-75th-anniversary-of-windrush-means-to-me-as-a-scouts-volunteer/"}