Thursday 16 August 2018

Christchurch will host a special event next month to mark the beginning of the celebrations of the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand.

This will be an opportunity for local people to celebrate Christchurch as the birthplace of the women’s suffrage movement.

Mayor Lianne Dalziel says we’re incredibly lucky to have the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern,as the keynote speaker, along with students from local schools taking part in a question and answer session with the Prime Minister.

“This is going to be a very special event for our city. We have such a strong history of female leaders. Not only can we lay claim to being the home of Kate Sheppard, who spear-headed the suffrage campaign, Christchurch produced the first woman elected to Parliament in 1933 and the first Minister for Women’s Affairs.

“It’s especially fitting to have the Prime Minister speaking at this event, inspiring the next generation of young female leaders in our city.

“Christchurch has a proud history of being at the forefront of campaigns for social change. It is part of who we are and what we stand for as a city.

“Our Prime Minister is the living embodiment of many of the values Kate Sheppard stood for,” says the Mayor.

The event will be held at the Isaac Theatre Royal on 13 September 2018 at 4pm with tickets available from Ticketek (ticket sales) or by calling 0800 842 538.

Proceeds from ticket sales will go to the YWCA Emergency and Transition Housing Programme, for women and women with children. The YWCA in Christchurch was founded in Christchurch in 1883, 10 years before women got the vote, and Kate Sheppard served on its Board in the late 1880s.

The Mayor says this is the first of a number of events planned to celebrate the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage. The other events will be part of Beca Heritage Week, which runs from 12-22 October 2018.

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