The Repair Shop: Windrush Special (BBC 1 Friday 23 June 2023)

The Repair Shop: Windrush Special airs Friday 23 June 2023 on BBC 1.

What can we expect from this episode

The group repairs four items to honour the work of the Windrush generation and their descendants on National Windrush Day.

Beverley enters the barn first, carrying a relic that reveals her family’s history. Beverley’s dad, Edgar, used the British passport he got in Jamaica in 1948 to legally enter the UK and help rebuild the ‘Mother Country’ after World War II. In 1950, he took the SS Eros to London, where he eventually settled; there, he arranged for Beverley’s mother to join him from Jamaica. After being treasured for nearly 80 years, the passport is starting to show its age. Beverley is praying that bookbinder Chris Shaw can bring it back to life so she can show it to her dad and remind him of the pioneering spirit he showed when he moved to a new country at a young age.

Keithly, whose pioneer mother Locita left him a suitcase, arrives next. Known as a grip, the container protects recollections of a trip rich in chance encounters, exciting experiences, and the will to persevere. In 1956, Locita left Nevis for the United Kingdom. Locita endured a long, harrowing ordeal on the high seas aboard the SS Irpinia before finally making it to Southampton. She worked her way up from low-paying jobs in the UK to become a councillor in Manchester and help countless people thanks to her perseverance and dedication. Keithly is now keeping his fingers crossed that the barn’s resident leather expert Suzie Fletcher can fix the grip in time for Locita’s return to the West Indies later this year.

Then, Dorcas and Stephen, a sister and brother, have brought a priceless clock to the barn’s resident horologist, Steve Fletcher, for repair. The clock was one of the first things Hermann and Keturah’s children bought with their own money after moving to the UK from Antigua. After five years, they intended to head back home. But they quickly established themselves and stayed in Britain for the rest of their lives. The couple put in their time and effort, and they went from sharing a house to buying their own house in Birmingham. The chiming clock was displayed prominently in their living room as a symbol of their success and arrival. After their parents’ tireless efforts to restore the United Kingdom and create a better life for their children and grandchildren, the children of the family would give anything to hear the broken chime ring once more.

Patrick Vernon OBE, who spearheaded the successful campaign to have June 22 designated as annual Windrush Day, is the barn’s final guest. He has brought with him a radiogram that belonged to his late friend Eddie Noble, a British-Jamaican who served in the Royal Air Force during World War II and eventually settled in the United Kingdom. Eddie, in his old age, gave Patrick the radiogram he had always treasured. Mark Stuckey, an electrical whiz, restores the radiogram to its former glory with military precision.

Season 12 Episode 7

When can we see the episode

The Repair Shop: Windrush Special airs Friday 23 June 2023 at 8.00pm on BBC 1

Featured Image Credit: BBC 1