Floella Benjamin says 'today's kids know about Windrush - they get it'

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Fifty years since Play School, Baroness Floella Benjamin reflects on overcoming Windrush racism, championing TV diversity, and how today's inclusive youth will change the UK.

Fifty years since becoming one of Britain’s first black TV presenters, Floella Benjamin believes a new generation of wise children will eventually stamp out racism in the UK. In 1976, Floella became famous flying the flag for diversity on the BBC kids’ show, Play School - educating youngsters about the world, alongside the programme's famous toys, Humpty, rag doll Jemima, Hamble, Big Ted and Little Ted.

And, in later life, she has brought star quality to politics - becoming a life peer in the House of Lords in 2010. Never losing her knack for communicating with children, she says hundreds of kids from all backgrounds write to her each day, saying society needs to be inclusive.

Floella says: "Children today get it. They actually really get it. I receive hundreds of letters every day from children which say, ‘dear Floella, we know all about the Windrush generation. We should never be horrible to people because they are different to us’. Other letters read, ‘when I grow up, I wanna be just like you’. They are from little white children, who send their pictures to me."

Baroness Benjamin, 77, says the sackfuls of handwritten notes arriving at her parliamentary office are thanks to her book, Coming To England, which depicts her own 1960s Windrush journey from Trinidad to London, aged 10. Published in 2016, the picture book is widely used in primary schools across the UK, as part of early years English and history education.

Floella says: "I wrote the book 30 years ago and it is now read in every school. “Children just adore it. I wrote it through the eyes of a child. I wanted children to understand the emotions. The book is changing lives and the children who are reading it now, one day, they will be policy makers and they will be there to change the world.

"What a wonderful thing to have happened. Knowing you are inspiring children and giving them hope in their hearts to see things differently. They really understand.”

Speaking at a London talk, hosted by the Royal Television…

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