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Taking Care of Business: Exhibition Guide for Educators

This exhibition guide is designed to help you get to know the exhibition, where best to look to discover stories that relate to your learning goals. We have identified historical examples that will ground your students learning in the context of the long story of migration to and from Britain. We have highlighted the stories most suitable for primary students and explained how to make the most of your time with us.

British Ugandan Asians at 50

In August 1972, Ugandan dictator General Idi Amin served 90 days’ notice on around 70,000 Asians to leave Uganda. Each family was permitted to take only £55 and one suitcase per individual. 28,200 of these who held British passports were admitted to the UK. The then government set up the Uganda Resettlement Board to assist the expellees to find permanent homes, jobs and school places. Sixteen temporary resettlement camps around the country were set up and staffed in just six weeks. Charities, faith groups, campaigning organisations and private individuals in their thousands stepped forward to provide much needed support in those critical early months. This extraordinary feat of cooperation has strong contemporary relevance. Fifty years on, British Ugandan Asians have excelled in many fields from business and finance to politics, science, and the arts. British Ugandan Asians at 50 is a programme of the India Overseas Trust. We have received funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to record, on film, the oral histories of people who were involved in the camps as residents, volunteers or paid staff.  We have focused on three of the Board’s resettlement camps: Tonfanau in Wales, Stradishall in Suffolk and Heathfield in Devon.

Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS Digital Exhibition

The NHS is close to all of our hearts – now more than ever. From the very beginning, people have come to Britain from all over the world to make this grand vision for a better society a reality. The NHS would not have become the beloved institution it is today without its international workers. But their vital role has largely been ignored.

Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS  is a digital exhibition that puts this vital story at centre stage through oral histories and archival materials, as well as art, animations and data visualisations.

Family Tree Activity

Exploring our family history can help us uncover amazing things about our family and ancestors – and these stories often feature migration.

Here is a helpful guide to help you begin to explore your family tree and the stories hidden within. How much do you know about your parents, grandparents or relatives? Do you have someone in your family who migrated somewhere?

We have created some questions for you to ask your relatives. You will also find a family tree outline to print off and fill in! You can even pin stories, drawings and photos to illustrate it. Fill in the names and draw the connecting lines – or draw your own tree. We have also highlighted some great online resources to help you dig even further.

In these times of social isolation, it is more important than ever to reach out to those you can’t see via phone or video chat. And being at home for an extended period of time is a great opportunity to find out more about your family and relatives. Tell us who you got in touch with and what type of technology you used to do it.

Click here to download and view the resource