IT'S the 75th anniversary of the HMT Empire Windrush this year and Newport will bring the Welsh stories of pain and power to light this March.

In 1948, the Empire Windrush docked at the Tilbury Docks in Essex with over 1,000 passengers from the Caribbean who bravely left their families in search of better opportunities in a moment that transformed modern Britain.

Over the next 40 years, thousands followed in their footsteps, making Wales their new home.

With its 75th anniversary this year, the Race Council Cymru’s Windrush Cymru Exhibition is expanding with 25 new stories across Wales. They aim to capture, document, and celebrate the contributions and experiences of the Windrush generation and their families who have shaped Wales for what it is today through the jobs they worked, the careers they built, the children they raised and their contributions to our communities and culture.

The exhibition features more than 40 stories of the personal experiences of the Welsh Windrush generation. It is an excellent opportunity to learn more about their journeys to Wales and the challenges they faced in hopes of building a better life, from racism to finding work.

The exhibition will be held at the Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre from March 18.

During an interview conducted by the Race Council Cymru, Vernesta Cyril OBE, a patron for Black History Wales who spent 30-plus years working in Welsh hospitals, voiced that it matters to share these stories as they hold a key position in educating the younger Welsh generation on what she and thousands of others will “never forget”.

Ms Cyril said: “You’d be travelling on the bus, and you know they didn’t want to sit [beside you] even though the bus [was] full; they didn’t want to sit by you because you’re not one of them”.

She added: “You try and give them money, they wouldn’t want your hand to touch them, you know, the money drop, and then they’d see you standing there, but...they’d be looking at someone white come after”.

Steve Ballinger, of the Windrush 75 network, praised the exhibition’s desire to share the Windrush generation in Wales experiences.

He said: “Exhibitions like this, where people can see and hear the stories of the Windrush generation for themselves, can really help the public to understand the contribution that [those] Windrush pioneers of 1948, and those who followed [have helped] … explain why our multiethnic society looks as it does today”.

Gwent community groups, charities and councils will now be able to bid for their share of the £750,000 pot of funding to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Windrush community.