Ipswich Windrush advocate Max Thomas shares his story

Next week, Mr Thomas will be going to Stoke High School to speak with the students about the sacrifices made by the Windrush generation.

It’s an environment the 59-year-old never thought he would be returning to. “Imagine me, leaving school with only a C in art, and now, I have A levels and a teacher training certificate!” he said.

However, he still struggles with feeling like he is not good enough, having been told over and over again as a child that he was stupid.

“But what they were doing was fanning the flame - I was determined to turn the flame up higher, and burn brighter,” he explained.

Max Thomas, sitting in his reflection room at Sailmakers. This is a mini-museum, a homage to the front room that so many people from his community remember from their own childhoods. (Image: Lucy Taylor) The front room was a room which was kept pristine, just for visitors, and certainly not for children. (Image: Lucy Taylor) Reflecting on Black History Month, he hopes that the next generation of young, black people in our town will not suffer as he did but will be able to grasp opportunities to meet their potential.

Mr Thomas himself is the fifth of seven children. His father, William, came to the UK in the 1950s, with his wife Agatha remaining at home in Jamaica with their daughter.

Mr Thomas Snr did not settle in Birmingham, returning to Jamaica before returning to England again, finding work at the Cranes Foundry in Nacton Road. He would work there for more than 35 years.

Mrs Thomas joined him, and later their two daughters. The couple would go on to have five more children, with Max arriving in 1964.

“Jobs were hard to find,” remembered Mr Thomas. His mother would take on any work she could find, mostly working in factories. He remembers her picking vegetables for long hours in all weathers.

“They say sprouts are better after a frost,” he said. “Imagine picking sprouts in the winter, when you’re used to the Caribbean sun!”

Seeing how hard life was for his parents instilled a strong worth ethic in the young Mr Thomas.

“Young black men have unique skills, but they are not given opportunities to use them. Stereotyping effects them in a negative way,” he said.

Max Thomas founded the Ipswich Windrush Society to keep the stories of this generation alive. (Image: Lucy Taylor) Mr Thomas is determined that the sacrifices made by the Windrush generation will not be lost to history. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

An entire wall in the Reflection Wall pays tribute to those from the community who we have loved and lost. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

At school, a careers officer had told him that he could look forward to one of three things: factory, prison or dole.

Instead, Mr Thomas worked his way up to being a manager at Sainsbury’s, where he worked for more than 20 years. By night, he worked as a caterer and studied fashion.

However, working in management presented meant that Mr Thomas was constantly having to hide the fact that he couldn’t read, something even his partner at the time was not aware of. He came to rely on his memory, and the fact that he was an eloquent speaker, to disguise the fact that he did not make notes or read instructions.

It was only 10 years ago that Mr Thomas realised he was dyslexic; having been referred to a former teacher named Daphne Ford, who finally helped him to do what his teachers in school had not.

“It was like looking through frosted glass, and she was slowly cleaning it, until I could see clearly,” he remembered.

Mr Thomas is determine to continue to advocate for his community. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Racism also continued to effect Mr Thomas; he remembers going to apply for rented accommodation with two white colleagues – and being the only one to be turned down.

This only encouraged him to work and save harder, and he purchased his first house at 18.

Since childhood, he said he has always been determined to speak out against injustices.

He remembers the feelings of his own parents. “They were grateful to be here, to help the motherland,” he explained.

His parents were part of the Windrush, a generation who answered Britain’s call for help with the shortage of workers in the wake of the Second World War.

The Windrush docked in Tilbury in 1948. (Image: PA)

Mr Thomas now spends time running the Ipswich Windrush Society, which he founded in its current form in 2021, so that the stories and sacrifices made by this generation are not forgotten.

He has also been busy running empowerment sessions for men of African Caribbean heritage, giving them the chance to come together and share their experiences.

He hopes that by being unapologetically himself and sharing his story, that perhaps he can motivate young black people, just as he was inspired by Benjamin Zephaniah and fellow dyslexic Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock.

“I’ve found my voice,” he said.