After an exhausting, but very successful year serving as Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Cllr Mohammed Asaduzzaman and Most Ara, his wife and official Consort, this week stepped back from their mayoral duties. Mohammed will of course continue as a councillor for Hollingdean and Fiveways, while managing “Mohammed Spice of Life” in the Market. Over the past year, the couple have had to carry out…
We are proud to announce that Baroness Jenny Jones of Moulsecoomb, has agreed to become a Patron for our Appeal. She will take the place of her Green Party colleague, our long-standing former Patron, Caroline Lucas. Jenny Jones was born on the Moulsecoomb estate in Brighton, the daughter of a hospital cook and a dinner lady. She has two daughters and lives in London. Jenny worked from a young…
We are sad to announce that Caroline Lucas, one of our earliest supporters and a founder patron of the charity, is to stand down. This follows her decision to not to stand again as Green Party Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion at the 2024 General Election. Caroline was one of the most hard working and conscientious politicians we ever met. Despite her prodigious work…
People visiting Brighton’s award-winning Jubilee Library in the past six months will have noticed that our maquette of Mary Clarke is displayed with other items in the large glass cabinet in the Foyer. It was there for Women’s History Month in March and for November’s month of remembrance, including the U.N. International Day Against Violence Against Women and the 16 Days of Action that followed…
The Mary Clarke Statue Appeal has had many wonderful and inspirational supporters and donors. Few more committed and generous than Penny Iveson, someone many local people will remember as a brave and life-long campaigner for women’s rights. Very sadly Penny died last week at the age of eighty, after a long struggle with cancer that tragically affected her sight and balance and stripped her of…
Our grateful thanks to Vicky and Chris Kilburn who have just raised a fabulous £1190 for the Appeal. They celebrate their fiftieth birthdays this year and generously asked friends to donate to the Appeal instead of giving them birthday presents. We rely completely upon our wonderful volunteers, the youngest of whom is eight and the oldest over eighty. They all do what they can to…
This column by our trustee Andy Winter about the wonderful Valerie Mainstone was published in the Brighton Argus on 1st May 2024, Valerie’s 83rd birthday. See below or link to Andy’s blog. https://wp.me/pDTWu-2bD Valerie is a committed campaigner for memorials for women and has supported the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal since it was set up in 2018. She is often to be seen dressed as…
On Monday 25 March 2024 the Mayor of Brighton & Hove Cllr Jackie O’Quinn, hosted a Reception at Brighton Town Hall for the young volunteers of the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal. This was arranged by the Mayor with the Appeal trustees, who wanted to thank the girls for their support. None of the girls were able to attend on 12 December when Mary Clarke was…
This powerful and moving poem was written by Cllr Mitchie Alexander and read by her at a special meeting of Brighton & Hove City Council on 14th December 2022. She read it in support of the motion to posthumously award Mary the Freedom of the City. Mary Clarke 1862-1910 The First Suffragette to die for the cause “I wear my purple sleeves with pride, You…
Mary Clarke was posthumously awarded the freedom of the city of Brighton and Hove at a special council meeting at Hove Town on Thursday 14 December 2023. This followed a wonderful Reception for trustees of the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal and supporters, hosted by the Mayor Jackie O’Quinn. Briony Goulden, Mary’s great-great-niece, and a trustee of the Appeal, accepted the honour, assisted by her daughters…