Vibrant celebration in Bradford to mark Windrush Day

It brought some of the thousands of workers who helped rebuild Britain after the Second World War and today's Carnival of Roots & Culture was a way to mark the Windrush Generation's contribution to the district and the UK.

The event has featured Windrush Generation-themed festivities, including local, national and international performers on the big stage, including local schoolchildren and choirs.

There has also been a fun fair, food, stalls and information and advice stands.

Photographs from the long-closed Belle Vue photographic studio in Manningham have also been on display, giving people the opportunity to look for relatives who may have had their picture taken many years ago.

Event co-ordinator Charles Dacres, of the Windrush Generation Organisation in Bradford, said: "It's a very, very good turnout.

"It's going very well. The performances have brought back some memories for people and some folk have commented on some of the photographs from the old Belle Vue studio.

"There was one young lady who saw an image of her father that she had never seen before and she didn't know existed, so it was absolutely brilliant.

"One old boy said to me 'this really takes me back' - he was talking about the dancing."

He said events like this one, giving people the opportunity to celebrate their community, are all the more important in the wake of the Windrush scandal.

"I think part of it is a sense of belonging. Not just sense of belonging, but people came here to support the mother country and actually, to be treated the way they have done, it's scandalous really."

Senior home office official Diana Luchford was in Bradford yesterday to call on more people to come forward to claim money under the Government’s £200m Windrush Compensation Scheme.

The initiative aims to compensate the thousands of people who suffered a loss because they could not demonstrate their lawful right to live in the UK.