London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2025

UK woman pays US$500K in reparations to UWI

UK woman pays US$500K in reparations to UWI

While the United Kingdom (UK) Government has refused to directly address the question of reparations for slavery, one UK citizen has taken it upon herself to pay $500,000 in reparations to the University of the West Indies (UWI).

Bridget Freeman, 70, an accomplished musician, bequeathed her properties worth half a million US dollars to a scholarship programme at UWI and noted that her grand piano is being kept in tune for the Cave Hill Campus as a contribution to the University’s new Faculty of Culture, Creative and Performing Arts.

Vice-Chancellor of UWI and Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, Professor Sir Hilary M. Beckles said the University welcomes Bridget Freeman’s endowment describing it as “an honourable demonstration of personal reparation and moral leadership on behalf of her family'.


‘I was horrified’ about evils of slavery- Bridget Freeman


Vice-Chancellor of UWI and Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, Professor Sir Hilary M. Beckles said the University welcomes Freeman’s endowment describing it as “an honourable demonstration of personal reparation and moral leadership on behalf of her family”.

He added that her commitment to turning her awareness into action is deeply appreciated and will go a long way to providing freedom and fulfilment through the gift of education for many Caribbean students.

Freeman has also accepted UWI’s invitation to get involved as a co-patron of Global Giving 2021. “It is about reparation” she said. “We owe it. Once you see the ships of the slave trade, the giving back just seems so obvious”.

According to Loop News on August 20, 2021, it was a series about the Atlantic slave trade on the BBC that shocked Freeman, whose uncle was married into a family that owned plantation and slaves in the Caribbean.

Up until then, she knew almost nothing about the plight of free Africans who boarded ships and were taken throughout the world and sold into slavery.

“I was horrified and it touched me and I thought dear God, this is not right” she said.

Further research led her to UWI and UWI Global Giving— the regional university’s annual crowdfunding campaign which was established in 2016.

Some people held banners calling for reparations during marches on Afrikan Emancipation Day in London in August 2020.


Reparation


Reparation is a word most frequently used in relation to money - given as an apology or acknowledgement that something was wrong or unfair.

When slavery was legally abolished in Britian in 1838, slave owners were given money by the British government to compensate them for the loss of their slaves, which in those days were considered "property". These payments were known as reparations.

The some £20 million paid by the UK treasury to some 3,000 families that had owned slaves was finally paid back in 2015, by UK taxpayers.

But the former slaves didn't get any money for all the work they had done under slave labour, their lack of freedom, or the horrible conditions they'd suffered.

More than 12 million Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic to work as slaves. This statue commemorating the abolition of slavery stands in front of the House of Slaves museum in Dakar, Senegal, before being relocated to the


UK refusing to pay reparations to VI


In 2013 and 2014 several Caribbean countries called on the UK and other European countries, including France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Norway, and Sweden, to pay reparations to their governments.

At the time the UK foreign secretary, William J. Hague said he "did not see reparations as the answer".

On Monday, September 7, 2020, a day after the 3rd anniversary of the destructive Hurricane Irma, the then Governor Augustus J. U. Jaspert sparked community outrage when he said the United Kingdom's (UK) position on paying reparations to the Virgin Islands for acts of slavery and the slave trade was not something that was being considered, hinting that the VI should expect nothing.

He also called for relics of slavery still present in the territory to be preserved despite community calls for those relics to be renamed so that it can reflect the legacy of Virgin Islanders who shaped the territory.

Despite calls for an apology, Mr Jaspert refused to apologise but instead saddled the Virgin Islands with a controversial Commission of Inquiry called during the coronavirus pandemic mere days before he exited the territory.

Meanwhile, Premier and Minister of Finance, Honourable Andrew A. Fahie (R1)in November 2020, said he too backs the rest of the region in its attempt at seeking reparations from Britain.

Premier Fahie bemoaned the fact that slave masters were compensated by the United Kingdom yet the descendants of slaves have yet to be paid.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
×