To celebrate INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY on 8 March 2011 the women of Manchester will join the global effort to stop violence against women and girls by staging a V-Day celebration. V-Day is the brainchild of an amazing woman Eve Ensler, playwright, activist and author of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES. To date Eve and her global V-Day campaign has raised over $70 million to support women worldwide and I have long been a fan of her work.
So, on the evening of 8 March the Birdhouse Fund will join her campaign to stop violence against women and young girls by staging a performance of The Vagina Monologues with a cast of real, local women at a central location and all the money raised by ticket sales, sponsorship and related activities will be donated to the Birdhouse Fund and distributed to women that are fleeing from abuse or struggling to get their life back on track because of domestic abuse in the Manchester area. 10% will also go into the global V-Day pot. For more info on V-Day have a look at http://www.vday.org/home
Sound interesting?......
Think about this….. 1 in 4 women in the UK are likely to experience some form of domestic abuse in their lifetime and how about this comment from a man…
Today there is an undeclared war against women in the UK. Each year some three million women will experience violence in one form or another; On average two women die each week at the hands of a partner or an ex-partner. 80, 000 women experience rape or attempted rape. An estimated 1.2 million women experienced stalking in 2003. 4000 trafficked women are in enforced prostitution, locked in dingy flats, drugged, threatened and effectively enslaved. And we should make no mistake about this. These are crimes against women. There are male victims yes, but the truth is that this war is against women because they are women. The figures speak for themselves. In fact they scream. (Trevor Phillips, 2007)
I know the women of Manchester will step up and support this event and I have every confidence the performance will be a sell out and an inspiration, however, despite rumours, I am not SUPERWOMAN and I cannot pull this off single handed so I am asking for your support to make this an evening to remember, one that will launch a dedicated fund for women that will continue to make a difference long after the tears and laughter dies down and we are all safely tucked up in our beds.
Are you game?
I need cast and crew; creative birds and a production team, marketers and PR birds, ticket sellers, a social networking queen, a money manager, fund raisers and sponsorship birds, ushers and hosts, runners and networking divas!
I am hosting an information meeting at the home of THE BIRDHOUSE FUND, Community Foundation, Speakers House, Deansgate, Manchester at 6pm on Thursday 11 November. This will last 2 hours and give me the opportunity to outline our plans and resource needs in more detail. I will also be able to share more about V-Day, Birdhouse plans and your role on our dynamic, can do and fun team!
This is an opportunity to stage a great night out. If you have not seen The Vagina Monologues it is an mind blowing experience and a fab platform to generate money to change the lives of women suffering unimaginable hardships.
This briefing session only has places for 30 women so please let me know fast if you would like to join us and get involved. If it is over subscribed I will organise a second briefing as soon as possible.
We only have around 4 months to make this happen but hey we are women, we create life, we are pioneers, collaborators, supporters, champions of change, do I need to go on?.....................
Let’s just do it ladies – To get involved Contact Jane Kenyon at jane@wellheeleddivas.com now!
