The Forgotten Generations CIC Monthly Newsletter – August 2026

Commonwealth 2026 Games success: Emily Campbell retained her title in the women’s +86kg category by lifting a Games-record total of 278kg. She was the first Team GB woman to win an Olympic weightlifting medal when she claimed silver at Tokyo in 2021. In addition, in the men’s 110kg weightlifting final at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, Tchatchet II earned a silver medal for Team England. He originally competed for Cameroon at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow before seeking asylum in the UK. He works as a mental health nurse in the NHS.

2026 Commonwealth Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work: Corporal Moesha Allen, a police officer with the Jamaica Constabulary Force and dedicated youth advocate, was recognised as the Caribbean Regional winner for her voluntary service and her community initiative: Helping Youths Pursue Excellence (HYPE). She has reached over 10,000 young Jamaicans through literacy, mentorship, and peacebuilding programs. She will use her £3,000 award grant to expand HYPE’s programs, promote youth empowerment, and build safer, more inclusive communities across Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. She received the award at Marlborough House in London.

England’s 122 Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) football players: Since Viv Anderson broke the senior national team’s “colour barrier” in November 1978, Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) footballers have become a central part of English football, with 122 BME players accounting for roughly one in four new international debuts. The England Football Online database chronicles this progression, there you can find more data and recent updates.

Oprah Winfrey Scholarship program for girls to study: She has announced that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) in South Africa will end operations in its current form at the close of the 2027 academic year. Rather than continuing to operate a single residential campus, Winfrey is pivoting her foundation’s strategy toward a nationwide scholarship program designed to support roughly double the number of girls across the country.

Books From Children To Children (BFCTC) Writing Competition for children aged 4-11: It is a free national child-led literacy movement and summer writing competition in the UK, founded by eight-year-old Guinness World Record holder Jayce Joyce BCyA to champion early literacy, diversity, and inclusion. Open to primary school children aged 4–11 across the UK, the 2026 competition centers on the theme of Climate Change & The Environment, accepting entries from 8 July to 11 September 2026. Winning young writers will have their work professionally published in a national anthology, earn author credits, participate in a national book launch, and join the Young Literacy Advocates program to help inspire and empower the next generation of readers and leaders.

Every 25 July, the International Day of Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women reminds us that Black women do more than survive the crises around them.

This month, we highlight Tina Nadine Anilus, who has spent over fifteen years building what the Haitian state has failed to provide: safe, dignified, and accessible spaces for women and girls.

Following the 2010 earthquake, Anilus recognized the urgent need for a protective, supportive sanctuary and founded REFKAD (Rezo Fanm Kapab d’Ayiti). “What began as a personal commitment became a collective dream built together with the community,” she explains in an interview with Amnesty International. “Today, we are a network of more than 30 organizations and have supported more than 30,000 people.”

Operating in one of the most complex humanitarian contexts in the Americas, her network provides critical medical, legal, and psychological aid to survivors of sexual violence—a crisis compounded by armed gangs using women’s bodies as tools of conflict. Anilus urges international decision-makers to look beyond images of disaster and poverty, advocating for direct funding, trust, and leadership opportunities for local, women-led organizations rather than top-down external interventions.

Would you like to attend? Please email us at info@theforgottengenerations.com.

The book brings to life a landmark exhibition from the Library of Birmingham, uncovering the overlooked stories of seven African and Caribbean men and women from the West Midlands who served in the Royal Air Force. Their experiences offer a powerful and personal insight into an often underrepresented chapter of Britain’s wartime history.

Originally created as an exhibition, this project has evolved into a beautifully produced book, helping these important stories reach a wider audience.

If you woud like to purchase it, it is available at:
https://theforgottengenerations.sumupstore.com