Mother and Child in Stockwell, London

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London has unveiled its first ever public statue of a African-Caribbean woman as a tribute to women in the Caribbean community. The 10ft high Bronze Woman statue is installed in Stockwell Memorial Garden, south London and features a woman holding her baby. This anonymous figure was inspired by a poem of the same name by Guyana-born Cecile Nobrega who lives in Stockwell. After a decade-long campaign by Ms Nobrega, Olmec raised £84,000 funding to find sculptors and a location for the statue. The unveiling ceremony featured women of Caribbean origin including artist Anissa-Jane, Baroness Rosalind Howells OBE and MOBO Awards founder Kanya King in a circle. Initially designed by sculptor Ian Walters who also created the Nelson Mandela statue, Aleix Barbat completed the project after Walters' death in August 2006, as he was a final year sculpture student at Heatherley's School of Fine Art in London. Olmec director Tanzeem Ahmed says this monument is "a tribute to the diverse communities making up British society and a symbol of women's potential everywhere". The statue marks the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush ship to Britain carrying 500 West Indian immigrants, and the 200th anniversary of the end of the transatlantic slave trade.