Four Windrush Generation nurses who came to the UK will share their stories and the early struggles they faced in a special ‘in conversation’ in Leeds this month.
Yvonne English, Dorothy Stewart, Gloria Hanley and Ad Maynard, will talk to the award-winning writer and poet Malika Booker about their memories and experiences of training and working as nurses in the NHS during the 1960s and 70s, as part of Jamaica Society Leeds’s ‘Legacies of the Leeds Windrush Generation’ project.
This free event, held at Leeds Central Library on June 18, will explore the forgotten achievements of the Leeds Windrush generation nurses. There will also be an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia and an audience Q&A session at the end.

The quartet of former nurses will talk about the efforts to combat health equalities around conditions such as Sickle Cell disease and diabetes, and the legacies they left behind. They will also discuss the achievements of the pioneering Mary Seacole Nurses Association Leeds and the impact it had on the Caribbean community.

Yvonne English,

Yvonne English, who now lives in Wakefield, came to England from Jamaica in 1965. She trained as a nurse at Harrogate Hospital before transferring to St James’s Hospital in Leeds, where she worked for 20 years, before moving into the social services sector.
“When I signed the invitation application form l signed for a three year course but when I got into nursing school we were all told that our course would be for two years and not three years, which was very disappointing because in Jamaica it was three years training.

“It was very difficult in the early days. There was a lot of discrimination and you weren’t really accepted by people. They didn’t think we lived in houses, they thought we lived in huts. I would get asked by patients how I felt wearing ordinary clothes rather than grass skirts, and I couldn’t understand what they were talking about. I was just flabbergasted,” she said.

Yvonne said the nurses formed a close bond. “We stuck together and looked out for one another. When we first arrived we didn’t know each other but we became like sisters,” she said. “We helped build the NHS. We got on with our jobs and we hoped that by doing that and showing kindness to people they would realise that we were just ordinary people like them. Today, it’s completely different to what it was like in the 60s, but we opened the doors so future generations could follow.”

Gloria Hanley

Gloria Hanley grew up in St Kitts and came to the UK during the 60s after spotting an advert calling on people in the Caribbean to come and train as a nurse in England. She came to Leeds and spent 30 years working as a community midwife in the city. She is Chair of the St Nevis and Kitts and has worked as a church leader, a magistrate, and has written two books.

“Leaving the Caribbean to come to the UK to train as a nurse at the age of 18 years was a decision taken by my parents reluctantly. During my training I had to quickly develop resilience in the face of adversity. My nursing career has been rewarding and enjoyable despite the racism and the challenges I faced from management and patients alike. I succeeded because of my faith in God,” she said.

Dorothy Stewart

Dorothy Stewart arrived in the UK in 1960 from Jamaica when she was eight years old. She joined her parents in Leeds who had moved to the city in the late 50s. She spent time training in Leeds, Bradford and Halifax before becoming a midwife in Leeds in the mid-70s and later going on to become a university lecturer in Health Studies.

“I always wanted to be a nurse because I had an instinct to care for people and I did whatever it took to become one. I was a midwife for a number of years because I really loved that, that was my forte,” she said.
“If you look at that generation and all their hard work it shows how committed they were. I started as an enrolled nurse and worked my way up through the system. I went to night school to acquire additional educational qualifications that allowed me to progress. We fulfilled a need within the NHS and the patients gradually got used to the fact that these nurses were special and really enjoyed their work.”


Adora Maynard came to England from Nevis as a child in 1957 and went to school in Leeds. She trained at St James’s Hospital where she qualified as a registered nurse and went on to train in midwifery in Huddersfield and Wakefield. After a stint working at King’s College Hospital in London as an agency theatre nurse she returned to Leeds and her “beloved” St James’s Hospital, where she worked as a staff nurse in Elderly Medicine until she retired.

Adora said: “I have heard stories from nurses who trained before me, but I can honestly say I did not face any racial prejudice or harassment during my career. Sure, I know it was out there but it was more covert, or maybe I’m just thick skinned. I think by this time the general population had more sense.

“Yes, the training was fierce, and the matron and senior staff were hard taskmasters but this was directed at everyone. Some patients could be aggressive and rude but I only experienced the same as the rest of my colleagues. Nursing was my childhood dream and I can honestly say that I really enjoyed my career.”

The ‘Legacies of the Leeds Windrush Generation’ project is funded with a grant from the Government’s Windrush Day Grant Scheme.

Jamaica Society Leeds member Melody Walker said: “Jamaica Society Leeds is hosting this event to honour and celebrate the work and initiatives of the Windrush Generation nurses in Leeds. It isn’t just about their contribution to the NHS, but also their activism in getting the wider health sector and working medical professionals to take health conditions which affect people of Caribbean and African descent living in the UK seriously.

“We want to celebrate the pioneering work of this generation of inspiring nurses and the impact it had, and to honour this history as we celebrate Windrush Day 2024.”

In Conversation with Windrush Generation Nurses – Leeds Central Library, First Floor, Room 700, Leeds. June 18, 6pm. Tickets are free. To book visit
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/jamaicasocietyleeds/t-pqvzajv

For more information visit https://www.jamaicasocietyleeds.co.uk/windrush-2024/