Recently, we held our Workers of the world unite! day as part of Black History Month. We heard stories from around the county about people from other countries and cultures who have come to live and work in Essex, from those who arrived on the Empire Windrush in 1948, to the community around Tomas Bata’s shoe factory in East Tilbury, to what it was like to arrive in Essex from India and Jamaica.

We were visited on the day by BBC Essex’s Ian Wyatt , who recorded interviews with some of our speakers, which he played on his shows this weekend.

Scroll through to 56 minutes on his Saturday show to listen to our chairwoman Yvonne Howard, and Fred Price from the Bata Reminiscence and Resource Centre:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yxg74

And on his Sunday show, tune in from 53.58 to listen to poet Jeffrey Porter:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yy4qn

Both shows will be available on iPlayer for the next few days.

The conference was a great day, and we are now busy planning for our next one, A night at the opera and a matinee at the flicks: theatre and cinema in Essex, on Saturday 24 November, exploring the history of theatre and cinema in the county. More details can be found here.

Poet Jeffrey Porter being interviewed by BBC Essex’s Ian Wyatt

Lunchtime – enjoying our culturally diverse buffet

This event was kindly sponsored by the Essex Cultural Diversity Project.