LONDON (JIS) – Members of the Jamaican diaspora in the United Kingdom are being encouraged to preserve their heritage by, among other things, recounting their parents and grandparents’ arrival in that country and the initial challenges they encountered.

The call came from Chaplain to The Queen, the Reverend Prebendary Rose Hudson-Wilkin, who was delivering the sermon at a Thanksgiving Service to mark Jamaica’s 54th Independence Anniversary, at Emmanuel Centre in Westminster, London, recently.

Reverend Hudson-Wilkin, who is also Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, noted that when Jamaicans first arrived in England in the 1940s and 1950s, they encountered many challenges.

These, she said, included being forced to do menial jobs which no one else wanted, and also being unable to access affordable and suitable housing.

Hudson-Wilkin said where these challenges may still exist, Jamaicans should forge greater community collaborations to counter these and other issues.

 “We are proud, because we stand up for justice, brotherhood, and peace. Let us be the kind of Jamaica that embraces our motto, ‘Out of Many One People’,” she underscored.

The service, which was attended by more than 900 Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica, also saw the Independence Message from Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, being read by New Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Her Excellency Angella Rose-Howell.

A special offering was collected and will be donated to the charity non-governmental organisation, Children First, based in St Catherine.