As we reported earlier, the twins have been fundraising to erect blue plaques in Brighton, to commemorate two great women, Helena Normanton, pioneering lawyer, and Sophia Jex-Blake, one of the first to undertake medical training in the face of extraordinary prejudice, threats and violence. 

We are so pleased that the girls are equally inspired by the life of Mary Clarke and have started fundraising for her statue. They have done incredibly well and have  been very generous – not least in asking friends and family to make donations to the Appeal instead of giving them 13th birthday presents.

We are pleased to report that the blue plaque for Helena Normanton will be unveiled on 18th June. Exact details will follow. 

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2022-03-26/sussex-twins-join-campaign-to-honour-suffragette-in-brighton

consider a donation to the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal instead of birthday presents. They raised a hugely impressive £95. We are so grateful to the girls and their parents and hope they had a wonderful birthday.

The twins are, of course, seasoned campaigners. Apart from their work to achieve blue plaques in Brighton for Helena Normanton, and Sophia Jex Blake, which we reported on 6 January, they have also recently taken on the might of the Nestle corporation – at the same time giving a name check to Mary Clarke. 

The girls noticed over breakfast one day that the wording on their brother’s Shreddies packet was upsettingly sexist. They felt the slogan “He Who Squares Wins” suggested girls could not be brave and adventurous. They decided to write to the Nestle company and with their permission we quote their letter:

“Hello Shreddies team!

Our names are Sophia and Izzy Kilburn and we are 13 years old. Our brother Seb, who is 11, really likes Shreddies but we haven’t really tried them. 

At breakfast at the weekend, we were reading the back of his Shreddies box and saw it says “He who squares wins”. We wondered why it needs to say “He”? We looked it up on the internet and the saying “who dares wins” seems to be from the SAS and despite being a male dominated military group, even they don’t use “He”. The box also says “On your side” but it doesn’t sound like you’re on the side of girls and maybe that’s a reason why we don’t feel encouraged to try them. 

Women and girls dare and win too! We are working on some projects at the moment about daring women. Mary Clarke was the first suffragette to give her life for the campaign for women’s rights to vote and we are helping with the appeal for a statue of her here in Brighton (where we live) see this link: https://maryclarkestatue.com/

We are also working on a project to get more representation for women on the blue plaques in town. We were so pleased because we recently got approval for a plaque for Helena Normanton in Brighton. She campaigned for women to be allowed to become lawyers and became the first woman to be admitted to an inn of court, the joint first female KC (now QC) and the first British woman to be issued a passport in her maiden name. She also campaigned for equal pay – and there’s still a long way to go on that. Next on our list is Sophia Jex Blake who campaigned to allow women to study medicine and became one of the first female doctors. 

How about instead of “He who squares wins” having a Shreddies box that celebrates amazing women like Mary Clarke, Helena Normanton and Sophia Jex Blake. “Women who shredded the rule book!” and demanded that genders should be “all square”.

It would be great if Shreddies would take an inclusive approach and would be really exciting if you’d help us on our projects – it would also fit in with Shreddies’ claim of “substance over style”. Then maybe girls like us would be more interested in trying Shreddies knowing you were genuinely “on our side” too! 

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Yours faithfully

Sophia and Izzy Kilburn”

We at the Appeal couldn’t have put it better!

sportswomen. Izzy focusses on hockey, while Sophia prefers netball and, in particular, cricket. Sophia plays cricket for the Brighton College boys first team.

The sisters are seasoned campaigners, with a particular interest in commemorating the lives of women who have no local memorial. While working on a school project about the Victorians, they came across tombstones in their local graveyard for Helena Normanton and Sophia Jex-Blake, inspirational women who fought to allow women to practice Law and Medicine. 

The girls thought it odd that Helena and Sophia were not commemorated in the city. They were surprised to discover that less than a quarter of Brighton’s blue plaques commemorate women and that some of these only refer to women as “wife”, “daughter” or “mistress” of men. 

The sisters began a local campaign for plaques for Helena Normanton and Sophia Jex-Blake, and were delighted that their applications received approval from the Council. They sought the support of Jean Calder, the Chair of our Appeal, and so learned about Mary Clarke, another inspirational ‘forgotten’ woman. 

They are now enthusiastic Child Ambassadors and are excited and proud to be involved in fundraising for, and promoting, the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal. Meanwhile, they plan to unveil the blue plaque for Helena Normanton in 2022, the 100 year anniversary of her admission to the bar. 

Izzy said: “Mary Clarke did so much for women’s rights – the least we can do is honour her with a statue. It will be educational for Brighton & Hove school children, both boys and girls, to learn more about her.”

Sophia said: “It has been so interesting to learn about the inspiring Mary Clarke and the sacrifice she made over a hundred years ago. It helped open up so many opportunities – all of us girls and women owe her so much!”

Jean Calder said: “ We are so pleased that Sophia and Isabel have joined the Appeal as Child Ambassadors. We are full of admiration for their plaque campaign and are sure that everyone involved in the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal will be cheering them on when the plaque for Helena Normanton is unveiled later this year. In the meanwhile, we hope to harness their commitment, energy and enthusiasm in our campaign for Mary’s statue.”