In 2019 Strike a Light – Arts & Heritage received funding from the Big Ideas Co to deliver a project called Trailblazers: World War One’s Inspirational Women, celebrating women’s achievements locally over the past 100 years. This was part of a nationwide project about inspirational women and their impact on the societies around them.

We offered activities in the Brighton & Hove area leading up to International Women’s Day on 8th March 2019 and launched 10 new digital Trailblazers resources which celebrate contemporary Sussex women and their achievements and can be downloaded below.

Trailblazers encouraged young people to explore the incredible lives of women, to discover Trailblazing women in their locality, and to develop as future Trailblazers.

We worked with the following:

  • Fairlight Primary School, Brighton
  • Brighton Open Market,
  • Memories Past group, Portslade
  • Brooke Mead Dementia Residence
  • Hyman Fine House Jewish Care home
  • Isabel Blackman centre, St Leonards
  • United Reform Church, Brighton
  • Hastings Library
  • Strike a Light studio drop in half term activities
  • Jubilee Library, Brighton

We made individual commemorative faux stained glass pieces of artwork with each participant which celebrated local women as Trailblazers and their contribution to Sussex life and history as well as commemorating untold achievements and raising awareness of the significant battles women have made to make life easier for other girls and women following them.

We also developed 10 digital resources which can be viewed and downloaded here, either individually or as one whole pack to share and promote Sussex women’s achievements in their respective fields. We have the following amazing women to celebrate:

Artist and Charity CEO Kate Adams MBE,  Activist and Lawyer Jo Wilding, Entrepreneur Jo Fairley, TV and Radio personality Zoe Ball, Recycling goddess Cat Fletcher, Actress Pauline HenriquesMP Caroline Lucas, Business woman and social justice campaigner Dame Anita Roddick DBE, Performer, Writer and parenting campaigner Maggie Gordon-Walker, Fuel poverty campaigner and CEO of BHESCo Kayla Ente.

We’re pleased to have a wide array of women and skills in this contemporary arena whilst whilst drawing parallels with other notable local women of the past at the same time.

These are free to download and share so please do so.

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Share your stories with us on social media using #Women100 and tell us who your trailblazer is with #Trailblazers

Supported by Big Ideas and the Remember Together project which is funded by Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) with additional funding for select projects to work in the Home Nations from RAF100, through the Chancellor using LIBOR funds, and a National Lottery grant from the Big Lottery Fund.