She voted for Jacob Bright (a Liberal) in Manchester in 1867. She had been put on the registers by mistake, but her vote was not crucial as Bright secured a majority of around 2,000.
I found this fascinating snippet on Mark Pack’s website. It took over half a century and a lot of campaigning before women got the vote as of right. Her vote was a mistake but you have to admire her for making the most of the opportunity presented to her and voting.
On Thursday night (12 November), I took part in the Sleep Out organised by the Bristol based charity 1625 who work with young people who are homeless or in danger of being homeless. About 160 people took part to highlight the needs of young people and with the aim of raising £16 250.
I know this is late notice but I hope you will support me with a donation. I dithered about whether to do it or not – was I too old, would I know anybody, would I survive a night on the concrete? Then I realised that if I was feeling so nervous about doing it, what must it be like for young people who don’t have the protection of a secure area, access to toilets and washing facilities, a warm meal beforehand and a hot drink at breakfast.
I did gain some inkling of what sleeping out in a city must mean and I realised again how important the work of 1625 is in helping young people at very vulnerable times in their lives.
Please help me to help them to raise their target
1625ip OVO Sleep Out 2015 Fundraising Page
PS Thank you to OVO for their support of the project
***Latest news 1625 have raised in excess of £25 000 which is brilliant! Donations are still appreciated as the problem is increasing, government and local authority funding is getting very tight and young people who are not helped early and helped well can suffer for the rest of their lives
Congratulations to Integrate Bristol who have just won an international award for their work to promote gender equality and to raise awareness of the risks of female genital mutilation. The charity is based in Redfield, Bristol and led by teenage girls. It is truly inspirational in its vision, determination and courage to challenge long-held cultural practices. Their website http://integratebristol.org.uk/ gives further information about their work with young people and also with professionals. They lobbied Michael Gove when he was Secretary of State for Education and he agreed to write to all schools reminding them of their responsibilities to safeguard girls from FGM.
In recent years, there have been women ministers who have been quite clear that FGM is wrong. Integrate Bristol were fighting the fight before then, when it seemed that government had the policies but lacked the will to act. I attended a conference on FGM several years ago and Integrate Bristol were very much a key player.
The With and For Girls award comes with $50 000 of funding to aid the grassroots work that the organisation does
For more information about the award try http://www.starsfoundation.org.uk/blog/announcing-2015-and-girls-award-winners
The local Lib Dems have welcomed the election of Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Tim Farron said that under his leadership, the party would oppose the cuts to tax credits and other benefits in the Conservative’s budget and push for greater spending on infrastructure such as transport and broadband.
At his first speech as leader, Tim said “If you care about human rights join us. If you think you shouldn’t have your emails snooped on join us. If you think everyone deserves a decent home join us.” You can watch Tim’s inspirational speech here.
Cllr Tim Pickstone, who leads the Lib Dems in Bury said: “These principles are at the heart of what drives the Liberal Democrats, our members and activists. More than ever Britain needs a party that will stand up for what we believe in, so we’re continuing our fightback and I’m asking local residents to be part of it.”
There has never been a more important time to join the party.
Across the Country since the General Election 17,000 people have joined the party. Locally we have been joined by dozens of new activists and members this year, including a large number since it was announced that Tim Farron was elected. The Liberal Democrats have also seen stunning election victories at local council by-elections across the UK, beating both Labour and the Conservatives.
If you would like to join please go to www.libdems.org.uk and join the FOCUS teams fightback.