A bus has been named after civil rights campaigner George Powe who worked to improve the countless lives of others facing inequality. The unveiling of the Nottingham City Transport bus took place outside Mr Powe's family home in Gorsey Road, Mapperley Park.
The naming of the number 45 took place on Thursday, August 11, on what would have been Mr Powe's 96th birthday. Some of his many many achievements included being elected as a councillor on Long Eaton District Council in the 1960s.
He became the second black person to achieve such a position in the country. He was also elected as a councillor to represent the Manvers Ward, in greater Nottingham, in 1989. He also led a successful campaign in forcing bicycle company Raleigh to improve its treatment and recruitment of black workers.
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On the bus naming, Mr Powe's wife Jill Westby, 84, said: “I am delighted that George continues to be honoured, and grateful to Nottingham City Transport and Nottingham City Council for their part in this. His achievements were sometimes on a large scale, locally and nationally. He was of the Windrush generation and, throughout his life, his voluntary work was based on the concept that black lives matter."
Mr Powe's daughter Cynthia Horton was also at the bus naming event. Other local dignitaries were there including Nottingham city councillors Audra Wynter and Leslie Ayoola, the authority's deputy leader, councillor Adele Williams, and Panya Banjoko of the Nottingham Black Archive.
Ms Horton, Mr Powe's daughter from a previous marriage, said: “We as a family are proud of dad’s achievements that have made Nottingham a better place for people of colour. Thank you to Jill also for all her work to keep my dad’s memory alive.”
Nottingham City Transport’s head of marketing, Anthony Carver-Smith, said: “We’re proud to unveil our latest named bus in George’s honour in recognition of his lifetime of campaigning to improve the lives of others who faced inequalities, particularly in Nottingham."
The city council’s portfolio holder for highways and transport, Councillor Wynter, said: “It’s an honour and right that we recognise and celebrate the achievements of George, who came here from Jamaica and contributed to life in his adopted country and city. His family can be proud that his hard work and dedication, making positive impacts in our communities, has been acknowledged by this bus naming.”
Mr Powe was born in Jamaica and volunteered to serve in the RAF in 1944, serving as a radar operator until 1948. After being demobilised, he was an electrician and later retrained as a maths teacher in 1969-1972. He then taught in the maths department at Robert Mellors School, in Arnold, and retired in 1983.
Mr Powe was a founding member of the African Caribbean National Artistic Centre in St Ann’s, now one of the UK’s oldest black community centres. Throughout his working life, and when he retired, he became a prominent voluntary community advocate for the rights of the African Caribbean Community, particularly in Nottingham. A blue plaque was previously installed on the family home to commemorate his achievements.
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