Jacqueline Roberts has spent more than two decades creating opportunities for people to learn about, participate in and preserve African and Caribbean heritage.
Known as Jacque, she is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of SV2G, St Vincent and the Grenadines 2nd Generation, an African and Caribbean heritage organisation based in Buckinghamshire. Under her guidance, it has brought generations together through arts and heritage projects while addressing inequalities faced by the communities it serves.
That collective contribution was recognised when SV2G received the King’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2024.
One of Jacque’s most significant achievements has been helping to preserve and promote Caribbean musical heritage through SV2G’s School of Steelpan. Offering lessons, workshops and taster sessions for people aged six and above, the school enables students to progress from beginners to advanced players, with many going on to join the Wycombe Steel Orchestra.
Its work has benefited community members and local schools across Buckinghamshire. With the support provided, students have been able to use steelpan as their instrument for GCSE and A-level music, connecting a valued cultural tradition with opportunities for formal musical study.
Jacque’s commitment to learning also runs through her historical research and exhibitions. She has led community history projects exploring Windrush and Vincentian history, including Coming Back Home, an oral history project about migration and settlement that was exhibited in Parliament.
These projects create opportunities for people to share their experiences and contribute to how their communities are remembered. They also bring African and Caribbean history to audiences who may not previously have encountered it.
Her book, The Beautiful Spotted Boy – George Alexander Gratton, explores the life of a Black child who was exhibited in Britain during the transatlantic slave trade period. Through her research and project management of the conservation of his grave, Jacque brought renewed attention to his story and its connections with the history of St Vincent.
Since 2022, she has collaborated with the University of Warwick on projects investigating the history of 2,500 Black prisoners of war brought to Britain from the Windward Islands in 1796.
Jacque led SV2G members in co-curating a pop-up exhibition about the prisoners and supported teachers in the Windward Islands to develop their own learning resources. The work has helped participants build the skills to share Black history in their own voices, widened participation in research and encouraged people of all ages to explore their heritage.
She has also worked on commemorations marking the 230th anniversary of the prisoners’ arrival in Britain in 2026.
Another important contribution was her role as project coordinator for diaspora participants in War and Resistance in the Caribbean: Monuments in St Paul’s Cathedral. The resulting trail explores the history of the revolutionary wars in the Windward Islands through monuments within the cathedral.
By bringing community knowledge and historical research into this setting, the project offers visitors a fuller understanding of the people and events behind those memorials.
Canon Dr Paula Gooder, Chancellor of St Paul’s, praised SV2G’s contribution, describing its historical work as providing “genuinely new insights into a crucially important historical period”. She called the trail “a vital and new piece of interpretation of key monuments in the Cathedral”.
Alongside her cultural work, Jacque has contributed extensively to the public and voluntary sectors, advocating for Vincentians in the UK and in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
A passionate racial justice advocate, she has held advisory roles across the criminal justice sector and Civil Service. These have included serving as a Home Office adviser on the National Expert Steering Group for Serious Violence Reduction Units and contributing on matters relating to Windrush.
Her advocacy seeks to ensure that African and Caribbean voices and perspectives inform decisions affecting their communities, including in policing and healthcare.
Across these different roles, Jacque brings a consistent commitment to education, participation and lasting change. She recognises the value of cultural traditions in bringing generations together and the importance of communities having an active role in researching and presenting their history.
Her contribution reaches from a child’s first steelpan lesson to exhibitions in national institutions and partnerships across the Caribbean. Jacqueline Roberts deserves recognition for the energy, knowledge and care she brings to this work, helping people understand their heritage and ensuring that their stories reach future generations.