From placards and protests to social media and selfies – youngsters from Rochdale put a modern twist on historical women’s rights event

Local artist Sophie Bullock on the Rochdale stall at the event with the art and jigsaw piece created by the young people

From placards and protests to social media and selfies, young people from Rochdale have joined forces with the nine other boroughs of Greater Manchester to put their own modern-day twist on an historical women’s rights event.

The group of young people from Milnrow Youth Group created a jigsaw piece to represent their borough and put it together with nine other pieces from the other areas at this event, to show how change can be made and campaigns can be successful when people work in unity.

The event saw the young people from all ten boroughs come together for the first time at Manchester Central Library for a recreation of the Women’s Bazaar of 1912, which mirrored how it would have looked and felt more than 100 years ago, with art displays of posters, placards and marketing materials, performances including dance and poetry, and a debate on education.

Frances Nutt, artistic director at Tandem Theatre, who ran the event, said: “The young people who have taken part in this project have been amazing. A lot of them have never left their own boroughs before this event or engaged with the arts and history. So, for them to get to this point and understand why it is important to stand up for themselves and engage in campaigns that they believe in is an outstanding achievement.

“We wanted this project to highlight the lesser known suffragists, who used law abiding methods to campaign, to be an inspiration to these young people today. We are really proud of them all – and are looking forward to seeing more of their campaigns in the future. A big thank you goes to everyone involved for all their support.”

This event was part of the Game Changers project, which has been made possible with a grant from Heritage Lottery Fund, to explore the suffragists movement – helping the youngsters learn about the peaceful methods they used to campaign – unlike the more militant and more famous suffragettes.