A WINDRUSH Compensation Scheme and Taskforce community event is to take place in Coventry tomorrow (Tuesday, November 12) for those affected by the national scandal.
The event at St Peters Centre, Charles St, Coventry, CV1 5NP between 6pm and 9pm aims to ensure people impacted by Windrush are aware of the help available and how to access advice on making a claim.
It is part of a series of public events being held around the country for affected individuals, community leaders, lawyers, charities and support groups.
The Home Office has been criticised for delays in setting up compensation payments, originally launched in April this year, which it blamed on Brexit.
Eighty-two-year-old retired nurse Iciline Brown, whose husband helped build Coventry Cathedral following the blitz, was one of those locally affected by the scandal. She moved to Leamington Spa in the 1950s and her late husband, Gersham, was a former Warwick district councillor.
But after Iciline moved back to Jamaica in 1991 following her retirement, she was stripped of her British passport in 2017. She could only come back to the UK and see her four children and grandchildren on a two-year visa.
Her family, including daughter Monica who lives in Warwick Gates, have fought tirelessly to bring their mother home and secure a biometric card, allowing her to travel back and forth.
In an interview with The Observer in April, Iciline said: “It causes great distress and makes me angry.
…“I don’t want to move back to the UK but want the freedom to come back to see my family and stay as long as I want.”
Since April 2019, the Home Office has now held or attended more than 25 Windrush engagement events across the UK.
The Scheme is open to almost anyone from a Commonwealth country who arrived and settled in the UK before 1973. Certain children and grandchildren of those arriving before 1973 and some close family members may also be eligible to apply.
It is also open to anyone from any nationality who has the right to live or work in the UK without any restrictions or is now a British Citizen, and arrived in the UK before the end of 1988.
You can apply to the Windrush Compensation Scheme by downloading the claim form from gov.uk/windrush-compensation.
