In a bid to celebrate the dedicated service of all staff who have roots in the Caribbean, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust has commissioned a very special musical composition created to mark Windrush75.
Composed by Kyle Corbin, the piece ‘Sons and Daughters’ recognises 75 years of service in the NHS by people from the Caribbean, both the original settlers from Windrush and their descendants who work in the NHS today.
A son of the Windrush generation himself, Kyle was selected to compose the soundtrack to a story of hope and determination from the hearts of staff written in the form of a message from the earliest settlers to the present generation.
The finished composition is a permanent celebration of their service and recognition of the fondness in which they are held by colleagues and patients alike. This project marking 75 years since the Windrush docked, follows an exhibition of portraits – Here to Stay – of current and past staff who left their home in the sun to travel to England to care for the sick. The exhibition was created to mark the 70th anniversary in 2018 and is on display in the Education Centre at Sandwell Hospital in West Bromwich.
Vanya Rogers, head of external communications at the Trust, explained: “This is a very special project that is close to my heart. We set out to create something worthy of the colleagues across the Trust who this piece of music is for, it is a way of saying thank you for all they do every day for our patients.
“Our Trust values are ambition, respect and compassion, and in this music, I recognise all three. Ambition in the journey to get here, respect for family, and compassion for patients who are at their most vulnerable when sick. This music encompasses what we stand for as a Trust and our identity as one family with many trees.”
You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/aKGtM-PSfxw
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Notes:
The Windrush generation are people who arrived in the UK from Caribbean countries between 1948 and 1971, when British immigration laws changed.
Although not all Windrush generation migrants arrived on the ship HMT Empire Windrush itself, the vessel became a symbol of the wider mass-migration movement.
Many of those who came to the UK had served in the British armed forces in World War Two. They became manual workers, cleaners, drivers, and nurses in the newly established NHS.