Caroline advised me on this, as we see very few bronze statues of middle aged women. Also all the statues in Parliament Square are of men who were captured at moments they were important. That is from middle to old age. Winston Churchill's sculpture was derided by some when it was unveiled as it showed a frail old man. But now we accept it as a symbol of him. And I feel the same with this sculpture. What is important is the achievements of Fawcett and the moment she was at her most influential, which was when she became president of the NUWSS in 1907 at 60 years old, having been a member for ten years.

Millicent Fawcett, a suffragist leader once stated in a speech: 'Courage calls to courage everywhere, and its voice cannot be denied.' When Sr Shaw died in 1976, in a tribute to her in the Messenger, it was noted that she never sought such tributes but living in the light of Faith, she always sought to be of service. Technically this is a quote from Suffragist Millicent Fawcett. Millicent believed in using peaceful methods to campaign for women’s But while there are signs of progress it is the pace and consistency of change that is disappointing. (1)The Royal Society of Edinburgh’s report, Tapping All Our Talents 2018, highlight that the proportion of female STEM graduates in the UK working in the sector has increased by only 3% from 27% in 2012 to 30% in 2017. In industry, UK-level figures indicate that the proportion of women in core STEM professions rose from 13% to 23% in the same period. In most STEM subjects across colleges and universities, the proportion of female students has seen, at best, incremental improvement (e.g., from 11% in 2012 to 13% in 2016 in undergraduate engineering) and, at worst, further decline (e.g., from 54% in 2012 to 43% in 2017 in college-level IT frameworks). There is much need among contemporary feminists for inspiration from this book’s evidence of the formidable fortitude, optimism, determination and generous spirit of activists like Millicent Garrett Fawcett. For students and scholars of English social and political life, the broader history of women’s rights globally or even those who simply wish to appreciate the pace of a different time, this book is a must read (and it is accessible as a free open access PDF!).'One of the most original voices in British fiction to emerge during the 1980s, Winterson was named as one of the 20 "Best of Young British Writers" in a promotion run jointly between the literary magazine Granta and the Book Marketing Council. Alison stressed that walking on the grass symbolises Newnham culture. Curiosity, courage, and encouragement are key and a favourite saying at Newnham is the suffragist rallying cry ‘courage calls to courage everywhere.’ Courage alone is not enough Criado Perez, Caroline (24 April 2018). "Despite a barrage of hate, I put a statue of a woman where only men stand". CNN . Retrieved 24 April 2018. Jane Robinson, Senior Associate, Somerville College, Oxford; author of Ladies Can't Climb Ladders: The Pioneering Adventures of the First Professional Women Millicent Garrett Fawcett: Selected writingsinvites the reader to delve into the life and passions of this great suffragist leader. Millicent Fawcett paved the way for women to take their place in public life, that’s why I’m so proud that in 2018, her sculpture was unveiled in London, becoming Parliament Square’s first-ever statue of a woman. The statue depicts Millicent holding a banner bearing the powerful quote, “Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere”. This book explores important aspects of the rich and too-often untold history of women’s rights, including the origins of that inspirational quote.'

There is a brief look at the suffrage movement and an assessment of how things have progressed (or not). There is also an outline of the current state of women’s issues with a look at the #MeToo movement, education and medicine. Winterson also looks at the future and argues that more women need to be in technology and IT. It takes courage to admit that we are vulnerable and conquer the fear of perceived failure, or even actual failure. In the race to live up to other’s expectations, we forget to set and live up to our own. On first reading one would say, ‘But this is what we do!’ Well, do we? The expectation should be to have the confidence to try, take risks, dare to voice our thoughts, feelings and concerns. Diminutive in scale, Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere by Gillian Wearing, is a bronze maquette (small working model) for a larger sculpture of the suffragist and feminist leader, Millicent Fawcett, that was commissioned in 2017 for Parliament Square. In Fawcett’s hands is a banner with the words ‘Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere’ referencing words she wrote in 1913 after the death of Emily Wilding Davison, the British Suffragette who fought for equal voting rights for women. In 2018, Wearing commented on the subject of her sculpture: Some have expressed surprise that it is Fawcett, a law-abiding suffragist, who is being honoured instead of one of her better known fellow campaigners. But Millicent Fawcett was indeed a leader of the movement and dedicated 62 years of her life to campaigning for the vote for women.

Capturing talent at the source

Winterson then goes on to list the various, and numerous, ways in which women deserve respect but sadly are not getting. She was also, finally, a great human rights and civil rights campaigner. She once said of herself: "I cannot say I became a suffragist, I always was one." It is fitting that her statue will capture her in her prime, a woman in her 50s – the age at which women so often say they become invisible to society – gazing proudly and determinedly across at parliament. But the plinth will also include the images of 59 other suffrage campaigners, women and men, suffragists and suffragettes.

Cheema-Grubb said: “There is powerful and compelling evidence of irretrievable devastation in the lives of those you abused. In her conception of the Fawcett statue, Wearing drew on her previous body of work, Signs that Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say (1992-3). Arguably some of her most iconic images, Wearing approached strangers on the street and asked them to write down an inner thought on a large piece of white card. Those who agreed were then photographed by Wearing holding up their personal statement, making their private feelings into a public work of art. The most famous, included here, depicts a clean-cut man in a suit holding a card with the words “I’m desperate”. Criado Perez, Caroline; Cohen, Claire (10 May 2016). "Emma Watson is calling on Sadiq Khan to put a suffragette outside Parliament – and you can too". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 24 April 2018.

Courage alone is not enough

Not all men are violent, but all men need to work with women to combat the routine and extreme violence directed against women all over the world." But well, I read this book was based on a lecture and maybe she didn't want to be too aggressive on such an instance, or too highly academic, maybe she just wanted to explain to all kind of people, in an easy and simple way, about the fight and need for gender equality. No need to scare everyone from the first approach, right? Discovering Sr Shaw, led me to discover so many stories of brothers and sisters from throughout the 20th century who constantly sought to carry out the work of the Church, to spread the gospel but to also challenge the norm when it became too comfortable, and for people to meet together even in disagreement and to finally reach consensus. Meanwhile in 1919, at the Provincial Synod of the British Province a proposal came forward to allow women to be eligible for roles on all representative and administrative bodies of the Moravian Church as well as being eligible for election to District Conference and Synod. While the proposal did not pass in its entirety, women became eligible for Congregation Committees and for election, with voting rights at District Conference and Synod.