Seconds better than firsts?

Earlier this week, I was in the audience for a fascinating discussion in the Houses of Parliament between Lady Hale of spider brooch fame and Lady Royall, former Leader of the House of Lords.

Among many other firsts, Lady Hale was the first woman President of the Supreme Court, but she made the point that she prefers to celebrate achievements when she hasn't been the first woman to do something. Being second gives her the opportunity to pay tribute to other women firsts who made it possible for her to follow and remember the importance of sending the ladder back down to help other women to climb.

She referenced the inaugural Equality Lecture at the Faculty of Law at the Unviersity of Oxford which she gave in 2018 themed Equality is the responsibility of us all. It was a fascinating discussion and the full text of that 2018 lecture is here.

While I was in Westminster I also took the opportunity to catch up with Laurence Turner, the MP for my constituency Birmingham Northfield, to discuss his role on the Transport Select Committee and work to support road safety and encouraging more cycling and walking locally.  I've recently joined the committee of Better Streets for Birmingham and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in to helping to make change happen in the most car-dependent parts of the UK.

Roads get ten times the investment that cycling and walking routes do and this IPPR report estimates that shifting short journeys to cycling or walking would save the NHS £17 billion over 20 years through improved health and wellbeing. Seems like good investment to me.

The publication this week of the government's immigration white paper reminded me of Viraj Mendis, who had lived and worked in the UK for 15 years but was threatened with deportation in 1986 and sought asylum in the Ascension church in Hulme in Manchester, just around the time I arrived there as a student.

Viraj remained in the church for two years, supported by thousands of campaigners, who organised a weekly march every Friday from Manchester city centre to the church. I wondered what happened to him and discovered that sadly he died last year following a life of continued human rights activism in Bremen, Germany, which took him in after his eventual deportation from the UK.

The Ascension Church recently hosted a memorial event and an archive has been created at Manchester Library to preserve this important chapter of Manchester's activist history.

RIP Viraj and thank you for your work.

Useful links 🔗

The Wellcome Accelerator Awards scheme will support researchers of Black, Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage in the UK to undertake activities that put them in a stronger position to reach their next career stage within academia. The funding can be used for research or research-adjacent activities, such as training, secondments, and networking.

Day of the Week 📆

It's Mental Health Awareness Week with the theme of community to highlight the importance of community to support good mental health and wellbeing. Here's an article about the importance of community for trans and non-binary people in the UK.

Oh, is that the same UK that has fallen to 22nd out of 49 places, its lowest ever position, in the ILGA Europe Rainbow map?

Why, yes, it is. Nul points, everyone.

What am I reading? 📚

I've been reading Start with Why - how great leaders inspire everyone to take action. There's a TED talk too if that's your thing.

What am I watching? 👀

I really enjoyed watching some of IFC's digital fundraising conference this week. I listened to an inspiring talk from Agustina Oliveri at Good Law Project and Ali Walker Davies of Forward Action about their current campaign challenging the Supreme Court ruling on trans people. The conference content is available free to non profit peeps here.

A particular lesson was around the importance of providing training for staff on Safeguarding and Vicarious Trauma - both for their own support and when they're working with a vulnerable client group.

What am I listening to?👂

I'm powered into the weekend by Erika Vikman, Finland's Eurovision entry, who owned the stage - and the giant gold microphone - in the semi final last night.

Good luck, Erika! 🇫🇮

Joy-giving things 😍

Welcome back, mini lily in my bowl pond ❤️

Have a brilliant weekend, everyone

Lucy

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

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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.

If it’s your first time reading this newsletter, find out more about me here.