Nine girls from two Brighton schools were given a mayoral welcome to Brighton Town Hall and thanked for their support for a local charity.
The girls, from Balfour Primary School and Brighton College, went along to a mayoral reception for the young volunteers of the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal.
They met the mayor of Brighton and Hove, Councillor Jackie O’Quinn, and were joined by trustees of the appeal to fund a statue for Mary Clarke, the first suffragette to die in the campaign for women’s right to vote.
Mary Clarke was posthumously awarded the Freedom of the City of Brighton and Hove in December but none of the young volunteers had been able to attend the ceremony.
The mayor thanked the girls for their support for the charity and the city in front of family members and teachers including Balfour’s head Alan Gunn and deputy head Dawn Loader.
Wearing the robes and chains of office, the mayor awarded certificates to the girls and spoke to them about her role – both as mayor and as a councillor.
She encouraged them to think about civic leadership while former councillor Jean Calder, who chairs the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal, added her thanks on behalf of the trustees.
The girls heard from the mayor’s mace bearer, bodyguard and chauffeur Robbie Robertson who highlighted the names of a number of past mayors on the wall of the council chamber.
They included Dorothy Stringer – one of a number of former mayors to have a school named after her.
The girls, their parents and teachers and the trustees and patrons of the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal were then invited to tea and cakes in the Mayor’s Parlour.
The mayor thanked the young volunteers for the educational work that they had undertaken and their fundraising activities.
She praised them for their ability to make links between Mary Clarke’s work for equality and the circumstances of their own lives and those of others.
Examples included challenging attitudes to girls’ sport in schools, asking the council questions about women’s rights and highlighting discrimination against girls in Afghanistan.
The audience were told about the “Mary’s Lamp” girls’ group at Balfour Primary School, set up by River Isaac at the age of nine, the Statue Appeal’s first “child ambassador”.
The group had prepared presentations about Mary Clarke for school assemblies, organised cake sales and games on school stalls and leafleted.
Members had also sold orange ribbons in November for the UN 16 Days Against Violence Against Women and Girls and made donations to the Statue Appeal as well as to the Malala Fund UK.
Where will the statue be placed?
In the town hall, I believe.