Invitation to Award of Freedom of the City on 14 December

  Mary Clarke is to be honoured by the posthumous award of the Freedom of the City, a wonderful tribute. The award is to be made at a special  meeting of Brighton & Hove City Council at 3.30pm on Thursday 14 December at Hove Town Hall. Mary Clarke Statue Appeal Trustee Briony Goulden, and her two daughters Sophie and Lena, will receive the award on…

Black Friday Remembered in Library Display

Black Friday is an Americanised term for a day of cheap bargains in the shops. It is a means of selling. The fact that this celebration of consumerism happens in November, the month of remembrance, is particularly galling for anyone wishing to remember the sacrifices made by suffragists and suffragettes and the terrible events of 18th November 1910, also called ‘Black Friday’. Three women died…

Freedom of the City for Mary Clarke?

Brighton & Hove News reports that Brighton & Hove City Council is to discuss a proposal to give Mary Clarke the Freedom of the City (see below). The Chair of Trustees of the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal Jean Calder said: “This wonderful news. It is unusual for such an award to be considered for someone who is no longer alive, but it is an honour…

Mary’s Lamp Group Fundraising at Balfour School’s 2023 Summer Fair

The inspirational Mary’s Lamp group at Balfour School has once again excelled in their fundraising efforts,  raising £175 for the Appeal at the school’s Summer Fair.  Led by River Isaac, our first Child Ambassador, they sold cakes, badges and pamphlets,  ran a netball competition and handed out leaflets – and in a few short hours raised this wonderful amount.  The group were ably assisted by…

Women’s History Month Events including Dome Talk 23 March

Talk at the Dome 23 March 2022. We are delighted that Jean Calder, Chair of Trustees, has been asked to speak in the Founders’ Room at the Dome at 1.00pm on Thursday 23rd March. The theme will be “Mary Clarke, the Dome and the Suffrage Struggle”. This event follows last November’s very successful talk at the Jubilee Library. The focus of that event was on remembrance,…

Youth Ambassadors (14) Make A Birthday Gift to Mary

Once again our Youth Ambassadors have made us very proud. Twins Izzie and Sophia Kilburn, our ‘oldest’ of our young Ambassadors, at just 14 years old, have reprised their feat of last year when, instead of receiving birthday presents,  they arranged for friends and family to donate to the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal. This year they have done the same, raising a wonderful £130 for our…

Young Ambassadors Lead the Way with Cake Sale at Balfour School

Our inspirational young Ambassadors have once again triumphed in their fundraising efforts and have made a marvellous donation to the Appeal. River Isaac and her Mary’s Lamp girls’ group at Balfour School have organised a cake sale at the school, ably supported by teachers and parents.  Many hours of baking resulted in record sales, with huge numbers of enthusiastic school students involved. The group has…

Letter about Denise Dutton in the Times

We are pleased to report that , Jean Calder, our Chair of Trustees, writing in her personal capacity, had a letter published in today’s Times (3rd October 2020) in which she suggested that our sculptor Denise Dutton is considered for the commission of the proposed statue of the late Queen Elizabeth. The letter was written in response to an article by A.N.Wilson who proposed an…

Mary Cakes’ Launched at Balfour School Summer Fair

Balfour Primary School’s Summer Fair, on July 16, was the setting for our first school stall and cake sale. Organised by the Mary’s Lamp group of Year 4 girls, it raised more than £60 in aid of the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal, selling ‘Mary Cakes’, our version of traditional fairy cakes.  The Mary’s Lamp girls’ group was set up by River Isaac, our first Child…

Our Youth Ambassadors Unveil Blue Plaque to Helena Normanton

Twins Izzy and Sophia Kilburn (13) have successfully campaigned and fundraised for a blue plaque in Brighton for pioneering lawyer Helena Normanton. The plaque was unveiled to an enthusiastic crowd, which packed the street, on the afternoon of 18th June at 4 Clifton Place, Brighton. A girls’ choir of students from Brighton College (the twins’ school) sang “This Girl’s on Fire” to start the event. Izzy…

Mary Clarke Statue Appeal