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Andrew Simcock and Hazel Reeves with the ‘Rise Up, Women’ maquette that will be made into a full-size memorial statue to Emmeline Pankhurst
A campaign to erect a statue to suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in her home city of Manchester has won funding from the Government’s Centenary Cities: 100 years of votes for women scheme. The campaign began in 2014, when Cllr Andrew Simcock set out to address the lack of representation of women among the city’s statues.
From a shortlist of six women, Emmeline Pankhurst was selected as the favourite during a public vote. Sculptor Hazel Reeves’ acclaimed ‘Rise up, Women’ was eventually picked as the winning design in April 2017.
Cllr Simcock, chair of the Emmeline Pankhurst Statue Campaign, said: ‘I am delighted that the Government has agreed this very significant and substantial donation to help fund the Emmeline Pankhurst Statue project. ‘Subject to planning permission, the statue should be unveiled on Friday 14 December 2018 – the 100th anniversary of some women voting for the first time in a UK General Election.’