New Pankhurst statue will be unveiled early
A LANDMARK statue of Manchester icon Emmeline Pankhurst will be unveiled this time next year in St Peter’s Square to mark the 100th anniversary of women first voting.
The bronze tribute, designed by sculptor Helen Reeves, is due to be revealed on December 14, 2018, after a major grant from government allowed the project to be brought forward.
The memorial was originally intended to be unveiled for International Women’s Day in March 2019, but the latest cash means a planning application has now been tabled.
Didsbury councillor Andrew Simcock, who originally launched the campaign for an iconic female statue in 2015, said he was ‘delighted’ to have £200,000 extra funding confirmed from a pot designed to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage.
“All of this is of great significance because, from the outset, we have been clear that no public money from Manchester council would go towards the statue,” he said.
“Our next step will be to embark on a crowdfunding campaign to raise more money for the educational and future engagement aspects of the project.”
The government’s Centenaries Cities fund has also granted £144,000 to Manchester’s Pankhurst Centre for two projects inspired by the milestone.
One will help to record and capture the way Manchester marks next year’s centenary of the 1918 legislation that granted all men and some women - the right to vote for the first time. The second aims to turn the centre into a leading international authority on the fight for women’s rights.
Emmeline Pankhurst’s greatgranddaughter Helen, a trustee of the centre, said all three projects were ‘fantastic.’ “For the Pankhurst Centre this means that the house where the suffragette movement started will feature as a central part of the plans to mark the Representation of the People Act, a house which also hosts a museum dedicated to the movement, an active women’s centre and undertakes legacy related outreach work,” she said.
The Pankhurst statue is earmarked for a spot opposite Central Library in St Peter’s Square.
Helen added: “As for the statue, Emmeline is a globally iconic figure much beloved in her home town of Manchester.”