National Suffrage Day With “That Bloody Woman”

18 September 2016

National Suffrage Day With “That Bloody Woman”

Commemorate “that bloody woman” and honour the achievements of women on Monday in Christchurch for New Zealand Suffrage Day.

This year’s National Council of Women celebration will be a little bit “rock and roll” with a special performance from Phoebe Hurst who starred in “That Bloody Woman” at the Court Theatre this year.

NCW Christchurch Branch President Judith Sutherland says she is thrilled Phoebe has agreed to perform on Monday and hopes members of the public will come along to join in the celebration.

“New Zealand became the first nation in the world to grant women the right to vote in 1893 and Suffrage Day (September 19) is a significant day in our history,” she says. “It’s an opportunity for us all to celebrate New Zealand’s suffrage achievements and look for ways to make further progress to benefit women.”

The guest speaker is the Mayor of Christchurch, Hon. Lianne Dalziel, and the Kate Sheppard Memorial Award for 2016 will be presented. Also the Lois Middlemiss finalists will read their poems and Beth Walters from Aranui High - 'East Side Youth: Our Voice’ will speak.

The National Council of Women (Christchurch Branch) invites you to join them at the Suffrage Memorial Cnr Oxford Terrace and Worcester Street Monday 19th September 12noon – 12.30pm (across the river from the Deloittes building, on the river by the punting stop).

Celebrate “that bloody woman” and honour the achievements of women who have gone before and our daughters and granddaughters to come.

Award Background:

The Kate Sheppard Memorial Trust Award is an award made annually on September 19, NZ Suffrage Day.

The award commemorates the life of leading New Zealand women's suffrage campaigner, Kate Sheppard, and was established by a group of women from Christchurch who had also commissioned the Kate Sheppard National Memorial. Its aim is to assist a woman to develop her potential through study, research or training in an area of value to the community. Although the award is open to any woman, it has been noted that the large majority of applications come from university and polytechnic institute students.

The selection panel is made up of representatives of Christchurch City Council, National Council of Women, NZ Council of Trade Unions, Rural Women of New Zealand and YWCA.

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