What's happening?

Almost 75 years ago, a large ship called the Empire Windrush arrived in Britain. On board were 693 people who had come from the CaribbeanThe region made up of the Caribbean Sea and its islands, including the West Indies. to live in the UK.

They changed Britain forever. Now, a new exhibitionA public showing of art, crafts, products, or skills.  in London will remember the "Windrush generationA big group of people who were all born at the same time." and how they added to life in Britain.

The Windrush generation started coming to the UK in the 1940s. During World War Two, Britain was damaged by bombs. After the war, the UK's leaders asked people in the Caribbean to come and help rebuild. About 600,000 people came.

At the time, many Caribbean countries were part of the British EmpireA group of countries that were once ruled or controlled by the UK, including Australia, Canada, India and large parts of Africa..

The Windrush generation faced many challenges in Britain - but many chose to stay. Britain became a place that included people and ideas from many different culturesThe ideas, beliefs and traditions of a particular society or group of people..

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Not everyone in Britain welcomed this change, however. And some think this caused one of the biggest scandalsShocking or morally wrong events that cause public anger. in Britain in recent years.

When the Conservative PartyA British political party. Members are known as Tories. came to power in 2010 they changed the rules for people who had moved to the UK.

British leaders allowed the Windrush generation to stay, but it did not give them any papers to prove they still had the right to live there.

Without these papers, many in the Windrush generation could not access the things they needed, and some were even forced to leave Britain.

That is one reason why some think we should teach people more about the Windrush generation and how it made modern Britain.

Yes! Britain asked thousands of people to come to Britain - and then it put many of them into a terrible situation.

No! This was a very harmful moment in British history - but much of it was caused due to confusing or badly thought through laws and rules, rather than being on purpose.