The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust celebrates Windrush Day 2025 with Saturday Soup

On Saturday 21 June, the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, in partnership with Telford & Wrekin Council, Telford & Wrekin Interfaith Council, and Telford African and Afro-Caribbean Resource Centre (TAARC), is hosting a special ‘Saturday Soup’ event to mark Windrush Day.

Saturday Soup is one of the culinary traditions brought over to the UK from the Caribbean by members of the Windrush Generation. The Windrush community in Britain would get together on Saturdays and exchange stories over this traditional one-pot chicken, beef or vegetable soup. 

At this event, which will take place between 12pm and 4pm, members of the public will be able to try Saturday Soup made by Lola’s Kitchen (£5 per serving), as well as hearing music from Piranha Sound, poetry and stories from the Caribbean. 

Andrea Nelson, Community Engagement and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, said: “Saturday, or ‘Satdeh’ soup, is a long-standing tradition in the Caribbean community that we are delighted to be celebrating at this special event, just ahead of Windrush Day. 

“There is a large Caribbean community in Telford and our event is the opportunity to celebrate their contribution to the town. We hope they will join us, as well as local people who aren’t members of the community but who would like to learn more about Caribbean traditions and culture.”

This is just one of the project’s that the Trust, a heritage conservation and education charity, is working on with Telford’s Caribbean community. Another is Back a Yard, in partnership with Birmingham City University, for which the Trust is collecting copies of personal documents, such as letters, photos, boarding passes and passports, belonging to members of Telford’s Caribbean community, which will be used to help tell the story of the community’s experiences and contributions to the new town. This archive will be housed in the Trust’s collections and will serve as a valuable resource for future generations and researchers.

The Saturday Soup event will take place in the Glass Classroom (adjacent to the entrance to Enginuity) in Coalbrookdale from 12pm until 4pm on Saturday 21 June, the day before Windrush Day on Sunday 22 June.