#Emilymatters – Birthday celebrations – Thank you!
Emily matters is a social media campaign to support and advance gender equality, particularly focusing on the importance of voting. See our #Emilymatters page to find out more about what we do.
# E M I L Y M A T T E R S – B I R T H D A Y C E L E B R A T I O N S – T H A N K Y O U !
It was suffragette Emily Davison’s birthday on Sunday 11th October, now also the UN’s International Day of the Girl.
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Thank you to everyone who took part in our birthday tea celebrations, which included a #VMDeeds Twitter chat, tea and cake as well as a world’s first: suffragette board game Pank-a-Squith played live on Periscope!
Despite, or perhaps because of a few technical glitches, not least the Periscope app stubbornly not switching off, much fun was had!
We sang happy birthday to Emily and celebrated the courage, tenacity and downright brilliance of Emily Davison, Sophia Duleep Singh, Sylvia Pankurst and their sister suffragettes with cake, raising a cup in honour of all who continue to fight for equality!
It was a pleasure and a privilege to be in such good company, from around the world and in person (Naomi Paxton – representing the AFL & every other women’s suffrage organisation in the world, ever, no mean task! – Emilija Ellen, Kirsty Murray, Sabirah Ali, Stephanie Fayerman and Michelle Witton).
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The singing was swiftly followed by a game of Pank-a-Squith, with my fantastic Band of Sisters, in what became a fiercely competitive game, with Naomi being sent home several times and Emilija having to miss a turn at a critical moment, I somehow pushed through and won!
Our #VMDeeds Twitter chat focused on Emily’s legacy as well as looking to the future with the release of Sarah Gavron’s pioneering film Suffragette.
Emily Davison was endlessly inventive and creative, with a passion for social justice, equality and the right to vote, so it was fitting to have a mix of ridiculous fun and laughter followed by a considered discussion about the legacy of the suffragettes and why equality matters.
Thanks must also go to Emily Thornberry MP, who joined the virtual birthday tea and it’s thanks to Emily Thornberry’s support that #Emilymatters exists.
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A performance of my Emily Davison play To Freedom’s Cause, directed by Brian Astbury, was part of a special event in support of the Emily Davison statue in Parliament campaign, which is something #Emilymatters continues to support.
Special thanks must also to historian and broadcaster, Matthew Ward, who added historical context to Periscope live stream with suffragette facts as well as later ably assisting Jack from Team #Emilymatters on the Twitter chat, as it ran in tandem with the latter part of the game of Pank-a-Squith.
It was wonderful to be joined by other long term supporters of #Emilymatters, including Mari Takayanagi, Senior Parliamentary Archivist, with whom I recently worked with on an insightful Periscope about Emily Davison’s numerous protests in Parliament.
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Other long term and new supporters got in on the act and sent in a wonderful array of #DearEmily messages and photos, not least Abi Daly, Rebecca Furness, Amber Greenall-Heffernan, Preet Kaur Gill, Manjit Kang, Hifzha Shaheen, Alison Hackett, Angela Holdsworth, author Lucinda Hawksey.
We were also ably assisted by several suffragettes! Not least Gail Heath and the Pankhurst Centre, who have been fantastic supporters of #Emilymatters. It was therefore great to be part of their special gala screening of Suffragette in Manchester, the original suffragette city!
Thanks also to Christabel Pankhurst, Edith New and the formidable Lady Rhondda for joining the birthday celebrations!
Although the #Emilymatters Emily Davison birthday celebrations are over for another year, we are working on more exciting plans, so please do follow us on social media for updates:
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Like Emily Davison herself, we believe in social justice and equality worldwide, not just the right to vote. See our #Emilymatters page to find out more about what we do.
If the suffragettes had been around today, they’d have been all over social media, so that is at the heart of our campaign.
We also have #Emilymatters outreach and creative projects that include interactive performances, talks, speeches and my Emily play To Freedom’s Cause, which remains at the heart of #Emilymatters.
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If you believe equality matters that voting matters then we’d love to hear from you via
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More about @Emilymatters:
- A social media campaign
- Includes my Emily Davison play ‘To Freedom’s Cause‘
- Supports & advances gender equality
- Particular focus on #Votingmatters for young people & women
- Go to: bit.ly/Emilymatters
We’ve lots of exciting projects in development, so please do keep in touch!
Kate Willoughby
Actor & Writer of Emily Wilding Davison play To Freedom’s Cause
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