Still We Rise sharing event, Manchester, Tues 16 Dec 2014

 

Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) and Manchester Migrant Solidarity ( MISOL)  invites you to a sharing of:

     "Still We Rise"

 on Tuesday 16^th December 2014

 a Sharing 

from 6pm 

at Methodist Central Hall,

 Oldham Street, 

Manchester, M1 1JQ.

  (approximately last 1hr.)

Still We Rise is a disturbing, eye opening and frank account of untold stories from women asylum seekers, some of whom have firsthand experience of being held in Yarl’s Wood, using multiple voices to emphasise the causes of how they end up there.

Still We Rise created by members of WAST in their own words to highlight the issues they face as part of their struggle for freedom in the asylum system.

Still We Rise consists of poetry, song and dance and drama through their journey as they fight back with dignity.

Funded by. Tudor Trust, & Individual donations from supporters and is  Supported by Safety4Sisters 

                                                                                 DONATIONS WELCOME

No booking necessary but it would help us to know if you would like to come please email; womentogether@wast.org.uk  or  marshvicky@hotmail.com   

10th December 2014 Manchester - Demonstration Stop the cuts to specialist “Violence Against Women” services

10th December 2014 marks Human Rights Day.

It is also the end of the 16 days of action associated with UN International Day to Eliminate Violence against Women. As Manchester City Council announces a further round of cuts to the tune of £60 million, Safety4Sister calls all women and men to join our demo and send out a united message to the Coalition Government

WOMENS RIGHT TO SAFETY IS A HUMAN RIGHT!

PROTECT OUR SERVICES - PROVIDE SECURE & ADEQUATE FUNDING

Wednesday 10th December 2014 - 12-2pm

St Peters Square, next to Cenotaph, Manchester City Centre

Bring banners, placards, whistles, pots/pans, spoons and drums.

The Coalition Government has slashed funding to vital frontline services for women and children escaping gender based violence and Manchester City Council has just announced that it has to find a further £60 million in saving. This is devastating. Some of the most vulnerable women and children are facing an uncertain future as specialist services, such as Women’s Aid refuges and Rape Crisis centres, struggle to survive. These, and many other specialist Violence Against Women services in Greater Manchester and around the UK, literally save women and children’s lives and provide excellent value for money. Services such as refuge accommodation, advocacy, advice, outreach work and emotional and group support to those experiencing domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, honour based violence and other forms of gender based violence.

Further cuts to this sector will mean that women will have to rely on higher cost services such as A&E, critical homelessness and emergency services. This will end up costing the government more.

These cuts are located within the wider politically driven ‘austerity measures’ which have resulted in extensive reductions in funding to legal aid, NHS, education, welfare services and other vital public sector services. Women’s rights and safety are at risk. Women are finding it harder to get access to justice; to a safe and secure specialist refuge; to protection for their children and to essential support services. The most marginalised women are bearing the brunt of the impact as poverty and inequality intensifies. As services are being starved of resource’s, the first to be affected are those facing extra barriers in accessing support such as women from black and minority ethnic communities, women with immigration status problems and women with disabilities. The Coalition has already undermined the services and spaces hard fought for. Given that on average, 2 women per week are killed by partners or ex-partners, these resources are the safety net upon which thousands of women and children rely on.

Did you know that -

• 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence over their lifetimes

• 1 in 5 women (aged 16-69) have experienced some form of sexual assault since aged 16 years

• Between 2010 and July 2014 the number of specialist refuge services decreased by 17%

• In one day in 2013, 155 women and their 103 children were turned away from refuges because they could not be accommodated

• 48% of 167 domestic violence services in England said that they were running services without funding. Six refuge services were being run without dedicated funding and using up their reserves to keep their services going

• Approximately 85,000 women are raped in England and Wales every year

(Women’s Aid www.womensaid.org.uk and Rape Crisis www.rapecrisis.org.uk)

LET’S BE CLEAR: SERVICES ARE ALREADY STRUGGLING

Come join the demo - PROTEST THE CUTS – PROTECT OUR SERVICES

Organised by Safety4Sisters – a campaigning group which aims to highlight issues affecting undocumented women experiencing gender based violence, challenge the injustices they experience and work towards improving services

For more information contact – Sandhya Sharma or Vicky Marsh safety4sisters@gmail.com @safety4sisters Safety4Sisters (Northwest)

Alexandra Arts presents Pankhurst in the Park 28 November, 7-10pm

Alexandra Arts presents

Pankhurst in the Park

28 November, 7-10pm

Alexandra Park, Pavilion

18+ Free*

Host: Kerry Leigh, Laughing Cows Comedy

8-8.30pm Artist Talk and Film Screening: Nataly Lebouleux

A screening of the stop-motion animation film Illuminate will be taking place with an introduction by Nataly Lebouleux - and her props.

9-9.30pm Artist In Residence Performance; Go! Push Pops (& guests)

All the way from Brooklyn, New York, join our artist in residence for a specially commissioned performance at Alexandra Park.

Installation By Julie Fitzpatrick

In collaboration with students from Manchester University's School of Architecture, Architect Julie Fitzpatrick will be exhibiting her new installation at the pavilion.

All night Music – Dj set by the Mighty Quinn

*As we have a bar on site, this event is 18+. It FREE but booking is necessary, either by e-mail: hello@alexandra-arts.org.uk or through Eventbrite- https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pankhurst-in-the-park-friday-28-november-tickets-14227186899

16 Days of street art action - call for artists

Image courtesy of Jenny White

The 16 Days of Action to End Violence Against Women campaign is fast approaching and we're really excited to announce that 16 Days of Street Art Action (Take 2) will be hitting the streets again this year!

There are two parts to the project this year

Part 1:
We are still keen to promote women artists in the Northwest so like last year we are looking for 16 female artists to create 16 pieces of street art, which will be displayed in Central Manchester on one of the 16 days. Our organisational role will be scaled back this year, so that means more freedom for you, the artists. The location of your artwork is down to you and you can choose whether to get permission or not! If you want your work to be one of the 'official' pieces for the campaign, you live in the Northwest and are available to create your work during the campaign period in Manchester (25th November to 10th December), all you need to do is send your idea to us before 1st November.

Part 2:
After last year's roaring success, lots of women contacted us and asked to get involved in the project, so this year we have decided to make it as inclusive as possible and are asking women from anywhere to create a piece of art (visual or performance based) on the theme described below, display it/perform it (preferably on the street) on one of the 16 days, take a photo/film it and send it to us. We will then post your art on the 16days of street art action facebook page. You can also tweet about it to your heart's content and encourage others to do the same using the hashtag #16daysofstreetartaction. Let's make the campaign go viral!

The Theme
This year's theme focuses more broadly on women's human rights and the importance of taking action to defend them. As feminist activism continues to rise across the UK, we want to use this campaign to draw attention to the many different ways in which women can and do take action to defend their rights and to strive for gender equality, whether that's by lobbying MP's or standing up for equality in their relationships.

Your mission is to create a piece of art which responds to the statement “ It's time...” and which reflects one of the ways in which we can work to achieve gender equality and women's human rights. For example:

“It's time...to educate young people about consensual sex in schools”

“It's time...to properly fund women's centres”

“It's time...to value motherhood”

“it's time...to be a feminist!”

We think that all your creative responses to 'It's time' will encapsulate the diversity of feminist action and perspectives on how to create change. We would like all of the artists to include the words 'it's time' within their piece. However your response to the phrase is entirely up to you, if your image speaks for itself…. further words may not be necessary.

We're really excited about this year's action and we hope you are too. Start thinking about it, start creating, tell your friends about it and get in touch. Deadline for proposals for ‘official’ pieces by Northwest Artists is 1st November. Send all proposals and questions to: 16daysofstreetartaction@gmail. com

In solidarity,

Jo and Hils

https://www.facebook.com/16daysofstreetartaction

  

A seat at the table is not enough - Manchester, 7 November 1130am

For booking information, visit this eventbrite link

Pankhurst in The Park, Manchester Autumn 2014

This Autumn, Alexandra Arts will be curating Pankhurst in The Park; a programme of free events and activities celebrating Alexandra Park’s rich historical connection to the iconic suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. 

Pankhurst in the Park takes inspiration from the Park's rich heritage connected to the leader of the Suffragette Movement, Emmeline Pankhurst, who was born and bred only yards from the Park in the neighbouring Moss Side estate.

The local community of Moss Side has hosted its fair share of radical history but Emmeline’s achievements, while volatile and controversial, helped to change the course of women's history, and Alexandra Arts believes this legacy is something to celebrate!

To highlight this historical socio-political heritage, which has until now has left no trace locally, Pankhurst in The Park is taking the opportunity to promote the wealth of talented female artists around the world and to provide a platform for art created by women.

The programme will include the Park’s first International Artist Residency, Go! Push Pops from Brooklyn, New York, combined with a free public programme of artist talks and installations situated in and around the stunning Grade 2-listed Alexandra Park and Pavilion.

The programme is open to all and provides the perfect excuse to nose around the newly renovated park and pavilion*. So, come and join us with friends and family for one or more of our fabulous free events.

4 October, 1-4pm

Free

Big Life Draw[ing]: Katarzyna Jablonska

Join artist Katarzyna Jablonska in the newly opened pavilion for an exclusive viewing and talk about her recent commission for Pankhurst In The Park, followed by a tutored life drawing class.

Acoustic Set: Ríoghnach Connolly & Associates

Singer and flutist Ríoghnach Connolly, while strongly rooted in her trad Sean-nós background, also stirs elements of Appalachia, blues and jazz into the folk archive.

Big Draw Mayhem: Naomi Kashiwagi

Families are invited to join artist Naomi Kashiwagi in our exciting Big Draw activity at the park. The Big Draw is an international drawing festival taking place in over twenty countries throughout October. 

15 October, 5.30-8.30pm

Free

In Conversation With Dr. Helen Pankhurst

Join us in conversation with Dr. Helen Pankhurst as we discuss our new Pankhurst in The Park programme. Inspired by Helen’s great grandmother Emmeline Pankhurst, the programme celebrates Alexandra Park’s connection to the British suffragette movement and its leader, who was born in Moss Side in 1858. Our conversation will be followed by a question and answer session, so get your questions ready!

Meet Our Artist In Residence: Go! Push Pops

Our first ever, international artist in residence will be flying over from Brooklyn, New York, to talk about their practice and their involvement in our programme.

Talk By Hysteria Magazine

London-based HYSTERIA is a periodical and a platform for feminist activism. With a printed publication and happenings all over the world, this is one story not to be missed.

1 November, 12-5pm

Free

Woodland Exhibition Tour: Sarah Hardacre

Artist Sarah Hardacre will reveal the results of her recent commission for Pankhurst In The Park, with a walk and tour through the park's preserved woodland.

Artist Talk: Lynn Setterington

Join Lynn Setterington for a talk about her collaborative signature cloth, which marks the centenary of the death of Emily Wilding Davison at the Epsom Derby in June 1913.

Zine Mania: The Chapness & Queen of the Track

Feminist zine making workshop with Manchester based The Chapess and Liverpool's very own Queen of the Track.

29 November, 7-10pm

Free

Artist Talk and Film Screening: Nataly Lebouleux

A screening of the stop-motion animation film Illuminate will be taking place with an introduction by Nataly Lebouleux - and her props.

Artist In Residence Performance; Go! Push Pops

All the way from Brooklyn, New York, join our artist in residence for a specially commissioned performance at Alexandra Park.

Installation By Julie Fitzpatrick

In collaboration with students from Manchester University's School of Architecture, Architect Julie Fitzpatrick will be exhibiting her new installation at the pavilion.

Music – Dj set by the Mighty Quinn

Alexandra Park

Alexandra Park has been serving the communities of Whalley Range and Moss Side for 144 years. Covering an area of 60 acres, it is one of the earliest and most complete of Manchester’s Victorian parks. Alexandra Park is regarded as of national importance and is a Grade 2-listed landscape on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens. It has recently reopened following a restoration project funded by Manchester City Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, English Cricket Board, the Lawn Tennis Association and Sport England. Facilities include floodlit tennis courts, a cricket square, lacrosse pitches and buildings with community meeting spaces, toilets and changing facilities. The Serpentine Lake has been restored, alongside new hard and soft landscaping, whilst the raised walk has become a formal zone. It’s beautiful but, don’t trust us, come along and see it for yourself!

Alexandra Arts

Alexandra Arts is an artist-led collective based in Manchester's Alexandra Park and founded in 2010. Alexandra Arts is curating the Pankhurst In The Park programme, which has received funding from the Arts Council of England and Norwegian Embassy in London as well as investment from St Mary's Primary School in Moss Side. Visit the links below to keep up to date with a growing calendar of events and installations.

For further details:

Email: hello@alexandra-arts.org.uk

Visit: www.alexandra-arts.org.uk

Follow: @AlexArtsMCR

*A café service will be available during events taking place in the Pavilion. 

WOMEN OF THE NORTH 02 September 14 - 18 October 14 at The Royal Exchange, Manchester

(Photo: Anne Reid) Photography by Paul Wolfgang Webster

WOMEN OF THE NORTH
02 September 14 - 18 October 14

Part of Paul Wolfgang Webster's major project MADE IN THE NORTH

Paul Wolfgang Webster is a Manchester based photographer working on an ongoing major project MADE IN THE NORTH. This project is based on prominent Northern people who have made a contribution to life in the North.

The idea started many years ago when Paul was working towards his photographic degree. His work was received so well that he decided to carry on with the project after successfully completing his degree.

Four of Paul's MADE IN THE NORTH portraits are included in The National Portrait Gallery permanent collection in London. His work has been exhibited in The Circle Gallery, New York, Richard Goodall Gallery, Manchester and throughout the UK. The photographs have been commissioned and collected by individuals and businesses in the Northwest and Paul is also proud to say that he works closely with the Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Charity and the Diane Modahl Sports foundation.

The images exhibited here in the Royal Exchange Theatre relate to women of the North. Some of them you will recognize, others you may not, however all have made a contribution to life in the North and they all form part of the main MADE IN THE NORTH collections. Paul is so very thankful to them all for allowing him to capture their images. We hope you enjoy looking at his work.

Find out more here

Wollstonecraftivism at People's History Museum, Sat 13 Sept, 12.00pm - 3.00pm

Wollstonecraftivism at People's History Museum, Sat 13 Sept, 12.00pm - 3.00pm

Join No More Page 3 for #Wollstonecraftivisim, a craftivist workshop highlighting issues of representation, feminism and gender expectations. The activists will lead a discussion tour of the main galleries, from Mary Wollstonecraft to the Rose Queen display. Then relax and explore these ideas through collaborative craftivism.

How have women and their bodies been seen and are seen in our world? What does this say about women? And why does representation matter? Using the idea of ‘News in Briefs’ (the comment given by the day’s Page 3 girl on current affairs) we will sew our thoughts and ideas about these issues and affairs onto a Rose Queen dress, bringing together historic and present day representations and ideas of women through collective craftivism.

Suitable for adults and young people

Part of the PHM Work in Progress workshop programme

Booking Requirements: Booking required via Eventbrite click here for link

This is how Manchester does feminism: with deeds, not words – and with a month of art, music and more

Wonder Women, the city’s annual, creative celebration of feminism returns next March, and we’d like you to join us.

Feminism. It's a thing, isn’t it? It causes Twitter storms and campaigns, and it draws attention to a pay gap so wide you could (fingers crossed) lose Jeremy Clarkson in it. And occasionally, it leads to some surprising, creative acts of protest. Like, crochet masks drawn tight over the heads of the Town Hall statuary to illustrate the fact that Manchester doesn’t have a single statue dedicated to its many women of note. Or three “respectable” women running into Manchester Art Gallery one afternoon, each raising a hammer and smashing the glass that covered some of its most famous paintings – part of a nationwide campaign designed to draw attention to women’s rights.

The fact that those two events occurred 100 years apart (the crochet masks this year, the glass smashing in 1913) speaks volumes: as in, here in Manchester, the birthplace of the suffragette movement, we are not done yet. Or as Jeanette Winterson, writing in the Guardian on the centenary of the art gallery protest, put it: “the suffragettes believed that a woman who could vote was a woman who could change the way society operated. That hasn’t happened. We are not equal.”

“It speaks volumes. As in, here in Manchester, the birthplace of the suffragettes, we are not done yet”

Jeanette Winterson is the supporter of Wonder Women, our annual series of events that runs for four weeks every March. Wonder Women looks at the feminist debate in the only way we know how: culturally. Through exhibitions, art and music, film and an annual academic conference, via after hours events in galleries, writing and debate, and taking in International Women’s Day, it is our contribution to a debate that just keeps on running.

Wonder Women returns in March 2015 and we are planning its now. It has the support of the city’s museums and galleries – in particular the People’s History Museum - but we’d like you to support it, too. It relies on clever, creative people coming up with clever, creative ideas that collectively we can make happen. And we can make great things happen: previous years have seen everything from a Pussy Riot-inspired music and art event at Manchester Art Gallery to an international conference on the suffragette movement.

Interested in taking part? Join us at our open meeting on Thursday 18 September at Gorilla to find out more. We’re holding it upstairs in the Gin Bar (appropriately we thought; mother’s ruin and all that) from 4.30pm until around 7pm. All are welcome. Feminism might be a thing right now, but it still needs fuel. Come along and help us feed the flames.  

This was also published on Creative Tourist here http://www.creativetourist.com/articles/festivals-and-events/manchester/this-is-how-manchester-does-feminism-with-deeds-not-words-with-a-month-of-art-music-more/

Crochet triumph as Manchester councillors vote for a public statue commemorating an inspiring local woman

Women’s accomplishments can be ignored, devalued, and written out of history leaving a lack of diverse female role models. Sculpture statistics bear this out: of 640 listed statues in the UK, only 15% are of women and most of those are of monarchs or topless mythological characters.

Earlier this year, in a bid to highlight this monumental gender imbalance, Warp & Weft (needlework artist Helen Davies and historian Jenny White) transformed 8 man busts in Manchester Town Hall into craftivist celebrations of local women. 

Their crochet crusade struck a chord with Councillor Andrew Simcock who proposed that Manchester City Council should support a new city centre statue honouring a local woman.  Yesterday, to inspire local Councillors on their way to the vote, Warp & Weft restaged their Town Hall yarnbombing installation. Simcock’s proposal was unanimously supported, and it’s intended that the new sculpture will be launched on International Women’s Day in March 2019.

The monument won’t cost local taxpayers a penny. A working party of councillors with input from external advisors will oversee the fundraising, artist commission, and choice of women to be portrayed. But the selection of artist and woman will ultimately be made by public vote.

Seconding Andrew Simcock’s motion, councillor Josie Teubler spoke passionately about the importance of equally celebrating the achievements of men and women. Female MPs and board members are still very much in the minority, and only when historical women’s achievements are given the status they deserve, attitudes about what today’s women can and cannot accomplish will slowly start to change.

Other speakers highlighted some of the hidden women who’ve helped shaped the history of Manchester. While suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst is well known, there are scores of other female movers and shakers less celebrated but no less deserving of recognition, including politicians Ellen Wilkinson,  Margaret Ashton and Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw.

What’s so exciting about this project is that the whole process of raising the cash and selecting the design will be used to raise awareness of some amazing local women whose achievements have been lost to history.

Andrew Simcock’s fundraising cycle ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats will be divided into 20 stages, each dedicated to boosting the profile of a particular woman.

That way, when the final vote takes place, people will have more of an informed choice about which woman deserves to be immortalized in Manchester city centre.

Check out the Warp and Weft blog for details of the 8 inspiring women they celebrated in their craftivist exhibition. 

Hidden Manchester Women Trail - this weekend, Sat 12 July

Further information is available on the Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/events/1428443334105248/

Vanishing For The Vote: The Suffragette Census Boycott Across Manchester – And Beyond at Manchester Central Library

Dr Jill Liddington, Honorary Research Fellow at The University of Leeds, will discuss her new book,Vanishing for The Vote, which tells the story of what happened on census night, Sunday 2 April 1911.  The Liberal government, which still denied women the vote, ordered every household to comply with its census requirements resulting in suffragette organizations urging women to boycott this census.

Jill Liddington will take us through this fascinating topic with a particular focus on the events in Manchester.  Archives+ will provide supporting archive documentation for attendees to view and handle.

The event will take place in Manchester’s beautifully refurbished Central Library, and tea and coffee will be provided free of charge.

Wednesday 4 June 2014, 6pm

Please book via Eventbrite

To fight, to struggle, to right the wrong: the National Federation of Women Workers, 1906-1921

To fight, to struggle, to right the wrong: the National Federation of Women Workers, 1906-1921 

Wed 25 June 2pm 

Working Class Movement Library

Cathy Hunt talks about the tireless efforts of grassroots activists in this early 20th century all-female British trade union (led by the charismatic Mary Macarthur) to strengthen the position of women workers who were too often the victims of excessively low pay and poor working conditions.

Dr Cathy Hunt is Senior Lecturer in History at Coventry University.

Time Machine/Back In Time - this Saturday 24 May at Manchester Art Gallery

Saturday 24 May 2014

11.00am - 1.00pm

FREE

No More Page 3 invite you to explore Joana Vasconcelos' work in relation to the No More Page 3 campaign and discuss why representation matters.

Our Exhibition Time Machine by Joana Vasconcelos exhibition can be considered very much as a critique of contemporary society that destabilises traditional views of female sexuality, the status of women and consumer culture.

Page 3 is considered by many as a sexist '70s hangover that re-asserts the view, in one of the country's largest 'family' newspapers, that women are there to titillate, a pure object of male desire. Something that really takes the status of women back in time!

No More Page 3 invite you to explore Joana Vasconcelos' work in relation to the No More Page 3 campaign and discuss why representation matters.

We will be looking particularly at the works Big Booby #2 and Bond Girl. There'll be open, relaxed and creative discussion and a minutes respect for the Booby and a collective group poem creation/discussion that looks at aspects of gender in Vasconcelos' work, Page 3, the gallery space itself and society as a whole.

Booking

Let's get together to discuss why representation really matters.

Meet us in the Atrium at 10.50. Information about the campaign and opportunities to sign the petition will be available.

This is a free event, no tickets required, but please book a place at Eventbrite.

Please note: Due to the next #bringbackourgirls rally being at 1pm in Piccadilly Gardens we have brought the time for this event forward to 11am, and will be ending at 1pm, to enable people wishing to attend both (including ourselves) to be able to do so.

Follow the conversation on Facebook or Twitter:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1887114734760831/

@NoMorePage3

Ellen Wilkinson – from Red Suffragist to Government Minister

In her day, Ellen Wilkinson was the most famous, and certainly the most outspoken, British female politician. Born and bred in Manchester, she was a feminist and a socialist who, among many other achievements, helped women over the age of 21 gain the vote, led the iconic Jarrow Crusade and in 1945 became the first female Minister of Education. She was only 4' 10" but she punched way above her height, hence some of her nicknames: the 'mighty atom' and the 'fiery particle'. 

 In 1924, when Ellen first took her seat in Parliament, she was the only woman on the Labour benches and one of only four women in the House of Commons. Join Dr Paula Bartley as she examines what it was like to be in such a minority in Parliament and find out more about Ellen's achievements.

Dr Paula Bartley has been promoting women's history in schools, colleges and universities for most of her adult life. She was Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Wolverhampton before going to live in Hungary for seven years.

In 1983 she co-founded the Women in History series for Cambridge University Press aimed at school students. She co-edited ten books in the series and co-authored three of them with topics ranging from Women in Medieval Europe through to Women in India and Pakistan. Her sole-authored books include The Changing Role of Women;Votes for Women; Prostitution, Reform and Prevention, 1860-1914; and Emmeline Pankhurst.

In 2012 she won the Elizabeth Longford award, administered by the Society of Authors, to support her research on Ellen Wilkinson.

Her biography, Ellen Wilkinson: From red suffragist to Government Minister was published by Pluto Press in February this year.

Saturday 12 July 2014 at People's History Museum, 1.00pm - 2.00pm

Suitable for adults and young people

Treat yourself to 15% off in The Left Bank cafe bar when you attend an event at the People’s History Museum

Booking Requirements: Booking required via Eventbrite

Please note event attendees must arrive at least ten minutes before the start time of the event, otherwise their booked space will be given to someone on the reserve list

Please contact the museum as soon as possible if you wish to cancel your reservation so your place can be given to another visitor

Cycle Stories Update

The two story cycle rides scheduled were scheduled for 15th and 16^th March have been postponed.  New dates are now confirmed as:

Sunday 11 May:  ‘Glad the Gloom’.  Marvel at the energy and creativity of poet, playwright and activist Eva Gore-Booth and her partner Esther Roper.  Hear how they worked with barmaids, pit-brow lasses and other women on the ‘margins’ of society to help set up the first women’s trade unions.

Sunday 15 June:  ‘Nothing to lose but our chains’.  On this ride you’ll hear about a number of women who played key roles in the suffrage movement.  We’ll also visit the National Cycling Centre and hear about some of the challenges facing today’s elite women cyclists.

For more information and to book contact storycycles@yahoo.co.uk  

Reclaim the Night Manchester 2014

On February 27th, we Reclaim the Night.

The march starts at Owens’ Park, Wilmslow Road, Fallowfield at 7pm. A neon parade will head down Wilmslow Road towards Manchester Students’ Union. The march will be led by a women’s-only block, open to all self defining women and followed by a mixed march open to all genders.

This year’s theme will be ‘sound’ – we’ll be raising our voices and uniting our energies to stand up to street harassment and sexual violence.

The evening continues with the Reclaim the Night After Party, a festival of the finest women talent, with live comedy and music, arts & crafts, fun activities, community stalls & awesome DJs at Manchester Students’ Union from 9pm.

This year is going to be bigger, brighter and louder than ever. Bring your glow sticks, bring your friends and bring your voices.

The hashtags for Reclaim the Night Manchester 2014 are #ReclaimtheNightMCR #RTNMCR

More info on the Facebook Event page

PechaKucha Manchester, Sat 15 Mar

As part of People’s History Museum’s International Women’s Day celebrations on Saturday 15th March PechaKucha Manchester are hosting a special women themed event.

Started in Japan in 2003 PechaKucha is now a global phenomenon. Currently running in over 700 cities worldwide PechaKucha Nights are a great way to hear informal, interesting and often amusing presentations about all manner of subjects.

PechaKucha Nights are FREE to attend, and often reach capacity, so don’t delay in registering to secure your seat.

Up for the challenge? If you would like to contribute, from a presentation about how your mum is an everyday inspiration or to a presentation on Pussy Riot, we welcome different approaches to celebrating women.  Just adhere to the 20x20 rule: You have to use 20 slides and each has to be up for 20 seconds. Please contact the PechaKucha Manchester team (Alex, John and Kelly) via: www.pechakucha.org/cities/manchester/contact/new 

To book tickets visit our eventbrite page

www.pechakucha.org/cities/manchester
www.phm.org.uk
https://twitter.com/PKNMCR

Suffragette Legacy Conference now taking bookings

Bookings for the forthcoming Suffragette Legacy Conference are now open. Priced at £25 or £15 Concessions/students.

More information, including a provisional programme, is now available via the People's History Museum website on this link.

Manchester Histories Festival events

A couple of events you might be interested is as part of Manchester Histories Festival.  These are now open for booking.  Both these events take place at the People's History Museum based in Spinningfields.

Sat 29 March

Woman’s Outlook: a surprisingly modern magazine?

Join Natalie Bradbury, writer, researcher and Information Co-ordinator at the Co-operative College, for this fascinating talk. 

Between 1919 and 1967 the women of the co-operative movement had their own magazine, Woman’s Outlook.  Providing an enticing mix of the personal and the political, Woman’s Outlook was surprisingly similar to women’s magazines today, and its concerns such as women’s representation in parliament, equal pay and healthy eating remain ever-relevant. 

Part of Manchester Histories Festival

Suitable for adults and young people

Booking advised via Eventbrite – https://womansoutlook.eventbrite.co.uk

In order to keep our events programme affordable to everyone, please make a donation

1.00pm – 2.00pm

Sat 29 March

Vanishing for the Vote – author talk and book signing

The Liberal government demanded every household comply with its census requirements.  So suffragette organisations urged women, all still voteless, to boycott.  Many did. 

Join author and research fellow Dr Jill Liddington for the fascinating insight into the events of Census Night 1911.  Jill is co-author of One Hand Tied behind Us which quickly became a suffrage classic.  Her most recent book, Rebel Girls:Their Fight For The Vote was shortlisted for the Portico Book Prize.

Part of Manchester Histories Festival.

Suitable for adults and young people.  

Booking required via Eventbrite – http://vanishingforthevote.eventbrite.co.uk

In order to keep our events programme affordable to everyone, please make a donation.
3.00pm – 3.45pm

New history and politics discussion group launches with a public meeting on Ellen Wilkinson and the future of the welfare state

A new historical and political discussion group, the Mary Quaile Club, will hold its first meeting on 15 February 2014 in Salford.

The  Mary Quaile Club was set up in December 2013. It will hold regular discussions on working class history and its links with  contemporary political issues facing working people in Tory Britain.  The Club takes its name from the  Manchester trade unionist, Mary Quaile  who was prominent in the 1920s and 1930s.

The organisers say, “We  believe there is  a new generation of political activists campaigning  on issues such as the bedroom tax, the privatisation of the NHS, zero hours contacts, fracking,  the slashing of welfare benefits etc   who would engage with  discussions on history and politics,  but who  are  not being reached at present. We will be holding regular meetings linking history with current political issues.”

The first public meeting of the Mary Quaile Club will be on Saturday 15 February 2014, 2pm, at  the Cornerstones Community  Centre, 451 Liverpool Street, Langworthy, Salford M6 5QQ.  

The theme of the meeting will be “What Ever Happened  to the Welfare State?”

The speakers will be Paula Bartley and Hugh Caffrey

Paula Bartley will discuss the life and politics of Ellen Wilkinson. Paula is the author of Ellen Wilkinson, from Red Suffragist to Government  Minister,  to be published by Pluto Press in February 2014.

Ellen grew up in Manchester and was an active socialist and suffragist. She was a Manchester City councillor for a short time before becoming a Labour MP for Middlesbrough and later Jarrow.  In 1936 she took part in the Jarrow Crusade, a march of the unemployed to London. In 1945  the Labour party won a landslide victory and set up the NHS and welfare State.  Ellen became Minister of Education. She died suddenly in 1947.

When I went to the Ministry of Education I had two guiding aims, and they come largely out of my own experience. I was born into a working-class home, and I had to fight my own way through to the University. The first of those guiding principles was to see that no boy or girl is debarred by lack of means … the second one was that we should remove from education those class distinctions which are the negation of democracy.Ellen’s speech to the 1946 Labour Party  Conference

Hugh  Caffrey is Secretary of Greater Manchester Keep our NHS Public.. which campaigns against the privatisation of the NHS. He will outline  what is happening at the moment and explain what people can  do to save the NHS from being taken over by the private sector.

 For more information,

 blog http://maryquaileclub.wordpress.com

email maryquaileclub@gmail.com

Forthcoming events at the People's History Museum

Below are a number of events that are coming up at the People's History Museum that might be of interest 

Saturday 22 February

Purchasing Power: Women and the co-operative movement since the 19th century

Founded in 1883, the Women’s Co-operative Guild rapidly became the largest working class women’s organisation in Britain, mobilising thousands of female consumers for economic, social and political change. This talk will introduce some of the co-operative ‘wonder women’ who made their voices heard in the decades before women gained the right to vote.  Part of Wonder Women Radical Manchester.

Rachael Vorberg-Rugh is a historian, whose research and publications focus on the co-operative movement and its role in British society since the mid-19th century. Her current work focuses on integrating women’s involvement in co-operatives – as customers, members, activists and business leaders – into the wider history of co-operatives in Britain. She is the co-author of Building Co-operation: A Business History of The Co-operative Group, 1863-2013, recently published by Oxford University Press. Rachael is a researcher with the Co-operative College, where she previously served as Project Officer with the National Co-operative Archive and Rochdale Pioneers Museum.

Suitable for adults and young people
Booking advised, please contact 0161 838 9190 or info@phm.org.uk
In order to keep our events programme affordable to everyone, please make a donation
1.00pm – 2.00pm

Monday 3 March

Snapshot on Women

Did you know the museum holds an archive of over 80,000 photographs?  Go behind the scenes and delve into our unique photo collections, the Labour Party photograph collection and the Communist Party of Great Britain photograph collection.  In this lunchtime drop in session, browse through photographs on the theme of women and uncover history through the lens.  Part of Wonder Women Radical Manchester.

Suitable for adults and young people

Booking advised, please contact 0161 838 9190 or info@phm.org.uk

In order to keep our events programme affordable to everyone, please make a donation

12.30pm – 1.30pm

Saturday 8 March

Living History performance: The Hard Way Up – A Suffragette’s Story

Celebrate International Women’s Day and watch our Living History character based on the life of suffragette Hannah Mitchell.  She spoke out for women and the poor and became a peace campaigner after World War I.  This event has been kindly supported by a grant from Manchester City Council.

Family Friendly activity, suitable for over 7s to adults

Booking required via Eventbrite – http://thehardwayup.eventbrite.co.uk

In order to keep our events programme affordable to everyone, please make a donation

1.15pm – 2.00pm

Sunday 9 March

Women as Peacemakers City Centre Trail

Celebrate International Women’s Day and join our Green Badge Tour Guide Suzanne Hindle, on a walking tour around the city centre.  Uncover the stories of historical and modern Manchester women and find out about their contribution to harmony through radicalism, war effort, nursing, science and community work.  This event has been kindly supported by a grant from Manchester City Council.

Family Friendly activity, suitable for over 10s to adults

Booking required via Eventbrite – http://womenaspeacemakers.eventbrite.co.uk

Meet at the People’s History Museum, walk through the city centre and end back at the museum

In order to keep our events programme affordable to everyone, please make a donation

2.00pm – 4.00pm

Saturday 29 March

Woman’s Outlook: a surprisingly modern magazine?

Join Natalie Bradbury, writer, researcher and Information Co-ordinator at the Co-operative College, for this fascinating talk.  Between 1919 and 1967 the women of the co-operative movement had their own magazine, Woman’s Outlook.   Providing an enticing mix of the personal and the political, Woman’s Outlook was surprisingly similar to women’s magazines today, and its concerns such as women’s representation in parliament, equal pay and healthy eating remain ever-relevant.  Part of Manchester Histories Festival.

Suitable for adults and young people

Booking advised via Eventbrite – https://womansoutlook.eventbrite.co.uk

In order to keep our events programme affordable to everyone, please make a donation

1.00pm – 2.00pm

Saturday 29 March

Vanishing for the Vote – author talk and book signing

The Liberal government demanded every household comply with its census requirements.  So suffragette organisations urged women, all still voteless, to boycott.  Many did.  Join author and research fellow Dr Jill Liddington for the fascinating insight into the events of Census Night 1911.  Jill is co-author of One Hand Tied behind Us which quickly became a suffrage classic.  Her most recent book, Rebel Girls:Their Fight For The Vote was shortlisted for the Portico Book Prize.

Suitable for adults and young people.  Part of Manchester Histories Festival.

Booking required via Eventbrite – http://vanishingforthevote.eventbrite.co.uk

In order to keep our events programme affordable to everyone, please make a donation

3.00pm – 3.45pm