There are so many amazing women in our city that creating a list celebrating their achievements could be endless. Every day we share stories about the people making Bristol a better place, but International Women’s Day brings an opportunity to highlight these on a wider platform.
In 2022 we took a look at the 137 women considered to be the most influential in Bristol, and everyone on there is still so deserving of recognition this year. Rather than replicating 2022's list, though, this year we want to celebrate the unsung heroes whose stories have made a difference in the last year. The 'ordinary' women whose efforts might get overlooked compared to those with more power, wealth or influence - but who are often those who hold our communities together.
Although strides have been made towards women’s rights in Britain, with campaigners helping to create changes in the law over the last 100 years, full equality is not yet a reality. The gender pay gap widened during the pandemic and the rising cost of childcare has driven many women out of work.
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While the cost of living crisis is disproportionately impacting women, misogyny and abuse means many women are still not safe in their own homes, with an average of three women murdered a week in the UK and over half being at the hands of a current or former partner. These are just some of the reasons why today (March 8) is an important day for women throughout the world and while there are plenty of International Women’s Day events in Bristol, including a Women’s March, we’d like to give some space to some of the many women who’ve made Bristol better for everyone.
This year we have seen the nurses in the news who, despite their hard work during the pandemic, felt forced to strike. The profession remains one of the most gender-segregated jobs in the UK, so it was largely women who formed the picket lines outside hospitals in hope of securing better pay and conditions.
Almost 90 per cent of registered UK nurses and health visitors are female and while nurses in Bristol were out on their first national strike day for over a hundred years, an injured man collapsed before their eyes. The efforts of the two unnamed female nurses made it into the national news.
Another female dominated profession is that of care workers and we met one in Bristol this year who, alongside being a carer, is empowering women in her community. Nimo Ibrahim, who is originally from Somalia, set up her own charity to help women in her community who may be trapped in an abusive relationship, struggling with mental health or finances but not able to ask for help.
After coming out of an abusive relationship herself, she has an understanding of the issues that some women in her community are facing. She does all of this work alongside being a single parent to five children - you can read more about her here.
Another single parent whose story we shared is Lana Gale, who dedicates her free time to helping those at their wits' end with a broken benefits system. From those with disabilities, to people with housing needs, Lana is a voice for the voiceless and has become a one-woman advice service simply because she is passionate about injustice and despite her lack of professional training, is able to get positive results. You can read more about her here.
While 90 per cent of single parents in the UK are women, a figure that has remained the case for over a decade, it is not only single parents who struggle to maintain their career after having children. Hundreds of women took to the streets this year in the March of the Mummies to campaign for childcare reform.
Among those women was a mother from Hartcliffe who made a passionate speech about the poverty trap many women are forced into after having children. Kirsty Hammond hopes her community work and activism can inspire other women in her community to be changemakers too. You can read her story here.
So many mums are making a difference across Bristol and Louise Polledri is one of many grieving mothers who has campaigned to prevent others from suffering the loss that she and her family experienced. Ms Polledri stood up in a Bristol City Council meeting and in favour of a motion to install more publicly accessible defibrillators in Bristol in order to prevent others from dying like her 24-year-old son. You can read the full story here.
Elsewhere in the council chamber, there are many local councillors who work selflessly to improve the lives of their communities. Unlike MPs, they get paid little for their efforts and often lack the power to make those bigger changes which are often at the whim of central government.
Last year’s long list included several local councillors, but one addition we'd like to add is Amirah Cole who spent decades supporting her community in the Ashley ward she now represents, before even considering becoming a councillor.
From holding the Malcolm X centre together when it almost closed through lack of funding, from helping to organise St Pauls carnival, it's difficult to name all the positive contributions Amirah has made over the years. She continues to advocate for those trapped in Bristol’s housing crisis and protest in support of good causes alongside her role as a councillor. You can read more about Amirah here.
Bristol sometimes gets called the city of protests and one woman in Bristol has certainly contributed to that tradition. Jo Benefield, the Bristol Refugee Rights Coordinator, has been selflessly organising vigils in support of the most marginalised people.
Jo has not ceased in her efforts to halt the government’s controversial legislation to deport asylum seekers and has organised numerous protests, the most recent one being a vigil held in Bristol just over a week ago to highlight the child asylum seekers that go missing from hotels in the UK which are targeted by criminal gangs. You can read more about the campaign here.
The conditions faced by those living in war-torn countries like Afghanistan is something woman’s rights activist Neelam Sarwary is all too familiar with, having been targeted by the Taliban herself. Neelam who now lives in Bristol continues to advocate for the rights of women and girls, you can read more about her here.
With war and conflict ongoing in many parts of the world, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to suffering or feel powerless to make changes in a distant country that is not our own. But for Helen, the escalating violence in Palestine has not prevented her in her efforts to support her friends living in a West Bank village. Despite the risk she faces Helen volunteers to support the farmers every year and plans on returning next year. You can read more about her story here.
But making a difference to the lives of others does not always mean travelling long distances. Bristol is full of women who do amazing work to support people in their local communities.
The Barton Hill Settlement has supported countless people in the hundred or so years it has stood as the hub of the local community. Although different directors have come and gone, Joanna Holmes, who has recently stood down after decades of paid and voluntary work, saw the organisation through some of the toughest times financially. You can read more about Joanna here.
Barton Hill is not an area short of female community heroes and not far from where the unveiling of a blue plaque in memory of Hilda Cashmore will take place to mark International Women’s Day 2023, there is a small community cafe run by Deniece Dixon who used her cafe to feed the local community over the lockdown and creates an inclusive environment for adults with additional needs, you can read more about her here.
In the north of the city there is another woman who dedicates her hours towards tackling food insecurity and waste through her community fridge at Henbury and Brentry Community Centre. Wendy Baverstock volunteers hours to running the community centre and has even received an ‘unsung hero’ award for her efforts. You can read more about her here.
Remembering those who are no longer with us
Sadly there are some women who we have lost recently, whose contributions also deserve to be celebrated on this list. Julie Boston tirelessly campaigned to save Bristol’s railways and was a regular at Bristol City Council meetings where she spoke out on the impact of council cuts. You can find out more about Julie here.
Others who are sadly no longer with us for International Women's Day 2023 are Maya Bahra, the founder of Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI) and Maggie Telfer who founded Bristol Drugs Project (BDP). Both organisations continue to offer support to countless people across the city. You can read more about Maya here and Maggie here, who only passed away recently and will be honoured in a memorial event this Friday.
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