Students get creative for ‘Windrush 70’

Winners in East Sussex College’s ‘Windrush 70’ Creative Writing Competition get set for a memorable day out in London.

The ‘Windrush 70’ creative writing competition was created to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, bringing people from the Caribbean to Britain and their significant contribution to British society.

The competition was created as part of the College’s celebration of diversity in Britain. There were 127 entries submitted. The overall winner was Ratton School student, Ella Harris, 13, with Esther Foreman, 13, (Willingdon School), Erin Cleaver, 14, Isabel Jesson, 14, (both Chailey School) and Daniel Bisset, 16, (East Sussex College) being highly commended.

On Monday 12 November, the winners will visit the Houses of Parliament by invitation of Rt Hon David Lammy, MP and the St. Lucia High Commission as guests of His Excellency Mr. Guy Mayers, High Commissioner for St. Lucia. As part of their prize the overall winner will receive a £250 voucher and they will all receive a copy of collected poems by Sir Derek Walcott (Nobel Laureate) and a signed book by John Agard.

The judging panel comprised Councillor Janet Baah, Mayor of Lewes Town Council; Nigel Alyson-Ryan, FRSA, Race Champion at ESC; Caroline Croft FRSA, Equality & Diversity at ESC; Peter Boon, Head of A Levels at ESC in Eastbourne and John Agard, (Queens Gold Medal for Poetry).

Winner Ella Harris said:

“When I heard I’d won my heart stopped. It means so much to me to win this competition. Having this award is really special and shows that we can all achieve if we put our minds to it. I am really passionate about the subject and am so delighted with the prize. Now I can buy Christmas presents for my sister and my nan.”

Mayor of Lewes Cllr Janet Baah, adds:

“This is a really important initiative taken by East Sussex College to encourage thinking about diversity and the contribution of the Windrush generation to all aspects of our society. I really want to acknowledge the many young people who took the time to reflect on these issues and to participate in the project, and my hearty congratulations to the winners.”

Nigel Allyson-Ryan comments:

“A massive congratulations to the winners in this writing competition. We were so impressed by the quality of the entries submitted and the number of people who engaged with the project. A big thank you to everyone to everyone involved for showing their commitment to this important issue.”

The project was organised by East Sussex College with the support of Lewes Town Council.