In June 1948, a huge, repurposed German cruise liner docked in London, having travelled all the way from Australia. It was carrying more than 1000 passengers, but the vast majority of them - more than three quarters - had embarked in, and had lived in, the Caribbean. These people set sail for Britain invited by a country looking for help rebuilding after the Second World War, entering under a brand new British Nationality Act, which allowed anyone from a Commonwealth country residency there. That ship was the HMT Empire Windrush, and its name would go down in history as marking the beginning of a migration to the UK that would last more than 20 years and number hundreds of thousands of people. It would change the face of Britain forever.
A lot is owed to those people - the people of the Windrush generation - who faced and overcame adversity to settle in the UK. They laid the foundations for a multiculturalism that we, the people who live here, gain so much from today. From food to music to fashion to sport: the impact has been immense. The Windrush's arrival is such a significant part of modern British history it was even recreated for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.