Yahoo News Powerful documentary telling stories of Windrush Pioneers to be screened on Teesside
A powerful documentary which tells the stories of the Windrush Pioneers will be screened in Stockton this month.
A Tees Valley Windrush Documentary has been made by the charity, Taste of Africa Northeast, and its creative youth leadership programme. The film, which was recorded at Studio 109 in Middlesbrough and the Arthur Wharton Foundation in Darlington, took five months to complete and features interviews with first and second generation Windrush Pioneers.
The hard-hitting interviews include Pat Poinen, who came to the UK as part of a recruitment drive for more nurses. Originally from Trinidad, she was 19 when she moved to the UK to train as a nurse in Harrogate.
“It was the first time I had left my country but when you’re young, you don’t realise the enormity of what you’re doing,” she explains in the documentary. I had never worked in my life before and had been totally spoilt as a child, very privileged – not rich – but never went without anything.
She joined trainee nurses from across the Caribbean, the Philippines and Hong Kong. “We all looked after each other,” she says.
“The people were okay. They knew we were nurses so treated us a little bit better. Harrogate was predominantly white and still is, so when people saw us, they knew we were nurses.”
She met her husband, who is from Mauritius, during training and they moved to Darlington, where Pat studied midwifery before working as a midwife at the University of North Tees Hospital in Stockton.
Shaun Campbell’s father came to the UK from Barbados in 1957. Shaun talks about his- experiences growing up as a mixed-race son of a single white mother, as well as his campaign for more recognition of Arthur Wharton.
In 2007, he attended a Taste of Africa awards ceremony and read about him in a brochure. Arthur Wharton was the first black professional footballer in the world and was Darlington’s goalkeeper from 1885 to 1888. He also became the first official fastest man when he ran a record time of 10 seconds in the 100 yards (now metres) on 3 rd July, 1886, at Stamford Bridge, London.
His world record was upheld for more than 30 years. He also later became a cycling champion, professional cricketer and a rugby player.
“I thought ‘My goodness me, how can it be that this guy exists and I have never heard of him?’; I champion greatness, I champion black history,” he says. And what started as a decision to paint him as a tribute led to The Arthur Wharton Foundation, which he founded in 2010.
The Windrush Pioneers and their families talk about a range of experiences in the film from their first glimpses of snow to horrendous recollections of racism.
Researcher and producer Khialah Wilson says: “This documentary shares people’s testimonies, a lot of them are second generation as the elders have sadly passed away.
“In the documentary, we pay homage to these Windrush pioneers and recognise their sacrifices, applaud their achievements, and salute their bravery. We feel honoured to have played a part in capturing each individual experience and journey.
“I teared up listening to most of the stories, but there were also tales of joy and excitement. Some of them were teenage girls and boys excited about a new life and they had some nice experiences, so it was nice to hear there was a good side to it too.”
And Khialah admits she cried when she watched the documentary in its entirety for the first time. “Even though I had heard all the interviews, meeting so many families personally too at the Middlesbrough screening [last year] made it more emotional,” she recalls.
“The feedback has been really positive.”
The special film, which was filmed and edited by Elvis Katoto, premiered at Teesside University last year to mark the 75 th anniversary of Windrush. It was also screened at the Arthur Wharton Foundation.
A Tees Valley Windrush Documentary will be shown at ARC Stockton Arts Centre, Dovecot Street, Stockton, on Saturday, 22 nd June at 7.30pm, followed by a live Q&A.
Tickets are free and available from the Arc Box Office and https://arconline.co.uk/.../a-tees-valley-windrush.../.
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