Here and back again

Just after I pressed send on last week’s newsletter, I popped to Clapham Common to film a quick selfie video expressing my support for the then-planned #ReclaimTheseStreets vigil due to happen the following day.

I was then contacted by the Daily Telegraph for a statement so I wrote the below. Most of my words ended up in the sub-editor’s bin so I thought I’d share them here instead for posterity:

Sarah Everard could have been me 20 years ago. I have lived in the area for decades, used to live off Clapham Common, have walked all the streets she took countless times and, like all women, have experienced degrees of sexual harassment throughout my life.

For all those reasons, it seems only right that I stand in solidarity with other women – and, I hope, some men – on the Common tonight to not only commemorate Sarah’s memory, but to let it be known that we shouldn’t have to live in fear on our streets.

Over the last few days, various friends have got in touch to say that they wish they could also be there, but either cannot make it, live far away, or are too scared to venture out. I feel I should be there for them, too.

This was a week that began with International Women’s Day, at a time when there is a profound sense that things are moving backwards for women – not only on our streets, but by every other metric, from domestic violence statistics to the impact of Covid restrictions. As a woman in my fifties, thinking about the next generations following me, that is deeply upsetting.

People sharing their stories of harassment online over the last few days – wherever those experiences sit on the spectrum of violence against women – only underlines the inequalities in our society: it is endemic, and it has to stop.

To me, that makes it all the more important that this evening's vigil goes ahead, even if it pushes the rules of lockdown. The solidarity between women - all women - is a beautiful thing, and tonight we should be allowed to gather to express ourselves peacefully in a certain place, at a certain time, to remember Sarah and say that enough is enough.

I will be there, and I hope many others are, too.

As things turned out, the police refused to collaborate to create a peaceful, COVID-safe vigil, but, of course, people went along anyway and we know what happened next.

As part of the Daily Telegraph interview I was asked whether I’d attend if the police didn’t allow the event. I fluffed the answer a bit and it led me, an elected politician working deeply within the system, to reflect on the tension between working within the constraints of an existing system and working to overturn it.

Interesting and useful links 🖇️

I once lost out to a man on a job I’d gone for because “the way my leadership style came across wasn’t what was required in that role at the time”. When I challenged this patently gendered feedback, I didn’t get any kind of concrete answer so I was interested to read this article: Men Get More Actionable Feedback Than Women

An update from the grant funder, Esmée Fairbairn on their funding for racial justice

You might think this is slightly cheating because I haven’t actually watched David Harewood’s documentary myself but I thought Operation Black Vote’s summary was handy and I’ve bookmarked the programme for the future: A look at David Harewood’s documentary on covid-19

I’ve been educating myself recently on using alt text and found this summary: Five Golden Rules to be alt text compliant

Learning points 🎓

I want to reflect back on a year since lockdown began and I started doing regular yoga at home. My previous adventures with yoga were confined to over-crowded public classes lying on my mat trying not to fart. I’d never really taken to it. But as the anxiety levels increased during early March last year, I thought I’d give Yoga With Adriene 30 day programme a try.

365 days later, I’ve only missed two days, which is a bit of a miracle. And my back and neck don’t hurt nearly as much any more.

Day of the Week 📆

Mother’s Day came and went. Thank you to the many people who contacted me to see how I was feeling.

To be honest, I felt as though I were in a community of loss, grief and love that’s much bigger than just me. And that thought gave me great comfort.

And it was my mother’s funeral yesterday. A huge hurdle. This might be weird but here’s a link to the service if you want to look at me very nearly getting to the end of my readings without crying. I dedicated my first reading to all those of us who mourn, especially those who mourn for their mothers.

What am I reading? 📚

There’s been a lot of talk this week about what was going on a year ago just before the UK went into Lockdown #1. I thought I’d look back at that week’s newsletter as so many people have subscribed since then.

Bizarrely, it was subtitled “A lot has happened in a week” which is what I was almost going to call this week’s edition!

Anyway if you want to look back at any previous newsletters, they’re all here in a handy archive.

What am I watching? 👀

I watched Rocks, the BAFTA-nominated film about young women growing up in South London. It’s on Netflix. Watch it.

What am I listening to? 👂

In a category all in her own is Beyoncé who picked up her 28th Grammy award this week for Black Parade - the most ever won by a female artist 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Have a lovely weekend

Lucy x

Never give up believing that the world can be better tomorrow than it is today

I write this newsletter because I believe in sharing progressive ideas that help us work towards a truly equal world.

Share it with your friends so they can read it too 📣

ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking to have a chat about culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, get in touch. You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and, LinkedIn.

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