my name is godfrey henry oliver palmer and i was born injamaica in1940. gosh, it's a big setting. carmen esme, e—s—m—e, steele. i am mrs monroe. laceta alexander reid. 20th may 1931, in manchester, jamaica. yeah.

history is, thankfully, and finally, beginning to accord a rightful place to those men and women of the windrush generation.

you look beautiful. how are you? it is, i believe, crucially important that we should truly see and hear these pioneers, who stepped off the empire windrush at tilbury injune 1948, only a few months before i was born, and those who followed over the decades, to recognise and celebrate the immeasurable difference that they, their children and their grandchildren have made to this country. many served with distinction in the british armed forces during the second world war, just as their fathers and grandfathers had in the first world war. once in britain, they worked hard, offering their skills to rebuild a country during peacetime and seeking opportunities to forge a better future for themselves and their families. when they arrived on our shores, with little more than what they were able to carry with them, few could hardly have imagined then how they and those that

followed them would make such a profound and permanent contribution to british life. they were asking the ex—servicemen to come back to britain and bring the country up. during the war, a lot of things that should be done wasn't done. britain, it was flattened by the germans... ..and a lot of west indian come. there was a shortage of workers here. england have the money, but jamaica have the men. i heard about the windrush . three months before it came. i bought my ticket — £28 and i remember some pence. and i was looking forward to it.

this year, as we honour the legacy and achievements of the windrush generation, i dearly hope that we can continue to embrace differences, listen to each other�*s stories and learn from one another�*s experiences. it is these stories that help light the path of progress and remind us of a fundamental truth — that though we might all be different, every individual, no matter their background, has something special to contribute to our society in a way that strengthens us all. well, it's not every day that

you're approached by the king. honestly, when they first emailed me, i i thought it was a scam. i was like, "0k, - the king selecting me." i was like, "yeah, right." and your sister and daughter — your daughter, your sister — is an olympian. three—time olympian. yes. i don't know which sport. 400 metres. oh, amazing. a lot of my work is about escapism. i'm going to get right in here. don't mind me. and, and in this sense, i'm engaging with a man and his family and his story in a very real way. that would be perfect. jessie's a very remarkable woman. she's from an incredible generation and she's seen so much history, and it's nice to be able to document just a tiny bit of that history. i'm here to take a few photos of her and do a few sketches and try and take something back to my studio that i can

use in her portrait. what do you think? i thought you wouldn't fit, you see? - as an artist, it's opportunities like this that offer me a chance to tell people's stories that i'm sure consider themselves unseen. yeah, it's really good. it's nice. it's important to understand history. a project like this, where i guess we're dealing with a lot of histories that, i don't know, oftentimes feel swept under the rug, it's good to get, like, you know, from the source, and then maybe it can make a start in a direction of rectifying some of those gaps in, in some of those stories, some of those bits that are missing. mum, this is clifton powell. he's going to be i doing your portrait. it's a pleasure to meet you. yeah, pleasure meeting you. phone rings this is new to me as well, you know that. i have to call my niece

on my landline to ask her what's going on on here. they laugh i was so nervous when i first met carmen because i've literally grown up seeing her on television. the question of the windrush generation, which is my parents�* generation, that question of migrating from one place and all the kinds of expectations, and then the actual what happens once that move has taken place, and that person's perspective on the life they've lived here, so those things were immediately, erm, fascinating and interesting. have you had your portrait painted before? no, no. it's going to be your first time? the photos on the wall has inspired me, what family means to you, you know? and it's a beautiful thing that i will try as much as possible to touch base on the process of making the portrait. i'm actually working on my uk visa documents.

i'm going on them and i feel like it's very symbolic for us. when i go back to ghana, i'm going to, like, put all the images together. i'm looking forward to bringing your portrait to life. my name is john mitchell richards. i was born injamaica, in the parish of portland, the district of fair prospect. indistinct alford gardner. he laughs born in kingston, jamaica, 27th january 1926. delisser augustus bernard. i was born 1928. i was born in, at the

time, british guiana. oh, gosh, it's very difficult. i have to sort of come away again in order to tell you what it was like, because it was just like home. how do you describe home, you know? my family was very orthodox methodist, and so i inherited that christian background, with discipline and hard work. it was a big family — 11- siblings of us and the parents. my father died early, - in the early '505, so i stay home with my mother to look after the younger ones. - i don't like remember some of it, but one thing i decide| to, i wasn't going to stealj to help the younger ones. i work and i work. my father sent me to learn...

..dressmaking. when i was small, i used to do, make my own clothes for myself. she laughs i did everything a boy should do. everything. at one time, i thought i could do... anything a boy could do, i did it. i didn't know that there was a life...to come. edna—mae henry. i was born injamaica. when i had the phone call about, they wanted to do a portrait of my mum, i was over the moon. i kept it quiet for a while

before i'd even told my mother. i think it's fantastic. she deserves this because of what she contributed for wales. i have not been to wales before. it's part of my process to dress my models, and i decided that it might be funjust to spend some time with her, to get to know her and to warm up together over shopping, because who doesn't like to shop? that's fantastic. camera beeps to know that i'm painting somebody from jamaica, the same place that i'm from, it's an experience. it's a new experience for me. you know, it shouldn't be, but it is, you know? oh, that's lovely. my name is gilda eunice oliver and i was born in westmoreland, bay district.

so i was wondering if, erm, if you liked this. yes. with, like, a blouse underneath. yeah. or a scarf, like a silk scarf or something like that. yes, yes. i don't know much right now. i'm looking forward to speaking to her. i do know that she worked as a health care professional and that she's a very proud woman and raised a family here, and has, ithink, probably as deep connection to herjamaican roots as she does to her british roots. i spent 23 years in the hospital. nursing assistant. i was a nursing auxiliary. i wash the patients. i feed them, comfort them, let them feel good. yeah, we have a laugh sometimes. there's some that can't feed their self and we have to feed them. we have to bath them. we have to dress them.

and sometimes some of them dirty their self, and we have to take them to the bathroom, and we have to bath them. i didn't like just, what... iused... i like to put them in the bath, give them a good bath. i know that they are clean, dress them and put them in the chair to sit. sometimes they try to be rough to me, but i don't. i didn't take no mind. you know, pay no mind. some of the residents, as soon as they get, they stick to you. because we were so kind to them, they stick to you. it was a hard job. it was hard. to be truthful, i didn't know i would spend 23 years in the hospital. i want it to look exactly like her. everything here is about mrs oliver.

at the end of the day, everything connect and it come down to a point. mrs oliver is the point. because this is going to touch her soul, to see herself in a painting. i really just want to try to pull her story out of this. hello. hi. how are you? that's important for me in the making of the portrait, is to just know how she feels about this, know how she feels about the life that she lived here. i just want you to try on tonight... yes. ..is this one. i used to do long hours. i used to work seven in the morning till eight in the evening. i've got five girls and three boys. yeah. in the night, when i go to work, i kiss them and say goodnight.

and in the morning sometimes, if they're on holiday, they don't wake up so early. so, before they wake up, i come. so sometimes they don't realise that i go to work. she laughs it is something very good to me. mmm. and the country has been good to me as well, because it allowed me to have a job that i can get done, look after the children, because it's not everywhere you work you can get a job to fit in with the family, like the children. but some of the patient then was, you know...prejudice. this girl come up and she said, "oh, i don't want your tea." she laughs and i always say, "all right, then, you go. "if you don't want it, you go. "you lose weight. " she laughs when i'm going out, she come back and she said, "are you here tomorrow morning?" and i always said, "yes, i'm here tomorrow morning again."

she laughs you know, but ijust laugh it off and walk away from it. you know, it didn't, i didn't... i didn't think nothing about them, you know, because, you know... ..they're not as sensible as me, so, therefore, ijust leave them alone. how does she feel about this commission? about her relationship to...her own identity? and to bring a deeper meaning into this, for me, just through her words and not my own. i'm proud of myself to, you know, to be so faithful to the nhs and the ward that i work, because i work hard on that ward. all right. i think we're good.

my father left us in 19... ..probably '47. he went to america. his job that he was doing - probably wasn't making enough money to look after the family. you leave jamaica, for there was no work and a crowded house. yeah, jamaica was a crowded house. leaving your home country, you always feel not too great to leave it because you're leaving your family and all yourfriends. and that's how things goes — part of life. it was quite normal. it wasn't unusual. you know, this is, erm, a result of our history. i historically, slavery- provided work, in a sense that you were working. however, when slavery ended, then the, you know, _ the colonial period was one

where men walked about, i looking for work. you don't know what you're going to make until you make it. i guess it'sjust between now and the finish line. it'sjust attempts, you know, knowing that there's going to be a struggle... glasses off. ..knowing that it's a process of not giving up. and that's what will take me there. same as last time, i guess. i'll do like five—minute sketches. my challenge is to make something that big john feels is familiar, resembles him. appreciated by himself and, you know, whoever he deems important to see it as well. he was a role model, so, you know, let's try and put him in a position of being that role model.

i noticed that he's in a lot of photographs from back in the day. so he was, i don't know... to me, he's almost like this, like, handsome pin—up kind of character. there's a certain generation who, if it wasn't for the way they carried themselves, the way they survived, then, you know, we might not be here with such strength and such levels of pride, able to stand our ground. so, yeah, that's what someone ofjohn's age and energy represents to me. my work is about investigation and rediscovery for the kid who i was at school, who loved reading stories but never felt reflected by them. any opportunity to build on that, to share that, grow that, that's my cake.

i'm here to go to alford's house meet him for the first time, introduce myself and, yeah, get to know him a little bit so that it can inform what sort of painting i want to produce for him. and get photos because i am a realist painter and i work from photos predominantly, so it's all about the photo. hi. the better the photo, the better the painting will be. hello. nice to meet you. i've got really cold hands, just so you know. i want to capture the true essence of alford, just like the kind of normal man that he is. i think a lot of paintings can add a level of sort of pomp, which i'm not about. i just want to capture

something realistic and raw and honest. i'm going to do a hyper—detailed portrait for you. oh, yes. so the more the camera captures, the better. i do know a little bit about alford already, because i did some research, and it looks like he came from jamaica to england on the windrush and he joined the raf. my grandad was recruited for the raf in 1958, and i said, like, "did you enjoy it?" he was like, "not really." they laugh what about you? well, he came at the wrong time. when i came here, i mean, the war was still on. the best thing was, get to know where you were... ..get to know the people... mm—hm. ..and... ..keep your nose clean. keep your nose clean? they laugh don't get involved in anything. what do you feel is the key aspect of who you are and what you want represented in the painting? mmm.

really, it's up to you. reggae music plays. sometimes you can have really serious portraits, but you've got such a great laugh. i feel like i want to capture some of the some of the candid nature of your personality, really. yeah. a lot of memories go back into good reggae music. a lot of good memories. yep. all the teaching was english. everything you did in jamaica was english. how else do you teach anybody? it has to be like that, i you know what i mean? british guiana. one of my first experiences about britain was when, injamaica, you were taught many, many songs as part of education.

you sang a lot in schools. one day, i went home and my aunts said, you know, "what did you do at school today, boy?" and i said, "we sang songs." and she said, "which one? could you sing us one?" and i said, "yeah." and i sang my love is like a red, red rose... ..and my aunts went silent. and then they said, "why are they teaching you to sing "these dirty songs for, when you're just a boy?" the english history book was about 2.5 inches thick. the jamaican history book was about a quarter inch, so ijust didn't like it. it was a big taboo to me, english history, i would not learn it. after high school, you'll be - working for the government, or, as time went by and it became obvious that another— thing you could do was to leave guiana and come i to the mother country. the mother country — the term

was used often, you know, during your education. so, most people of the windrush generation, like myself, were not formally educated to, you know, because they didn't go to private schools or posh schools, but we knew, or we were told, a lot about britain. why is this photograph so important to you? because... ..it, in a, perhaps a small way, helped to break down the barriers. with figures like him, we see their accomplishments down the barriers. with figures like him, we see their accomplishments and they hide a lot of the scars. and i think, for me, i'm interested in where

the discomfort lies and what he might be keeping beneath the surface, and how we can bring that into a richer understanding of who he is. hello there. it is going to be a white christmas, but only over the hills of northern scotland. it's too mild elsewhere. and on sunday, it was the warmest christmas eve since 1997. temperatures in the south reached 15.3 celsius. and these are the temperatures

that we've got first thing on christmas morning, ranging from maybe close to freezing in north—east scotland to 12 degrees across southern england, where we're going to see some cloud and we're going to see some rain developing, and more rain develops in that cloud across england and wales. northernmost parts of england and northern ireland seeing sunshine and showers. just gets wetter through the day in scotland — mostly rain, but over the hills in the north. there will be some fresh snow falling here and that's where we've got some cold air. but otherwise it is going to be a mild day, particularly across the south—east. 11; degrees here, but some gusty winds as well. so we're seeing cloud and rain across many parts of the country on christmas day. boxing day is going to look and feel quite different. mind you. the weather systems that are bringing in the cloud and bringing in that wetter weather are going to slide away and things will calm down a bit as we head into tuesday. there's still going to be a few

wintry showers blown in on those brisk winds across the far north of scotland on boxing day. and there may be a few icy patches, but for large parts of the country, it's going to be dry with some sunshine. there is more cloud and rain in the channel that will edge back into the south—west of england in the afternoon. and some cloud will push ahead of that into parts of england and wales, turn the sunshine a bit hazy. temperatures are going to be lower, but the winds are going to be lighter as well. now, things change again for wednesday because that rain that's in the south—west is going to come northwards again on that weather front wrapped around the area of low pressure and the winds will be strengthening as well. the strongest of the winds, actually, on wednesday could be through the english channel and along the south coast of england — gusts of 50, 60 miles an hour. it's going to be wet across many places, briefly some snow over the pennines. but as that wet weather continues northwards into scotland, here, we could see the snow lasting a little bit longer. now, for many, it may well be rain, but over the hills above about 200 metres, there could be 10—15 centimetres of fresh snow. and of course, it's going to be colder here. elsewhere, though, it is going to be a mild day. despite that wet and windy

weather, particularly in england and wales, temperatures will widely be into double figures, but we're going to turn a little cooler later in the week.

welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm mariko oi. the headlines: gaza's health ministry says at least so many people have gaza's health ministry says at least 70 people have been killed in an israeli air strike on al—maghazi refugee camp. pope francis uses his christmas

mass at st peter's basilica to warn that peace in the middle east is being drowned out by the futile logic of war. as east timor celebrates christmas, we catch up with the country's president. and — as santa sets off to deliver presents around the world — we hear from the team tracking his progress. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to newsday from bbc news — broadcasting live from singapore, where it's 8:00 live from singapore, where it's 9:00 in the morning on christmas day. we start in gaza, where the hamas—run health ministry says at least 70 people have been killed in an israeli air strike at al—maghazi refugee camp in central gaza. the injured have been

taken to al—aqsa hospital in nearby dair al—balah.