Purple Parade 2015

Preparations are in hand for Southend's International Women's Day, Celebration...

The Theme for the 2015 event is: Equality for women is progress for all!

International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities... and Southend has a vast and diverse array of women who have and are quite extraordinary in the roles the play locally and on the international stage.

"Countries with more gender equality have better economic growth. Companies with more women leaders perform better. Peace agreements that include women are more durable. Parliaments with more women enact more legislation on key social issues such as health, education, anti-discrimination and child support. The evidence is clear: equality for women means progress for all." Ban Ki-Moon

The International Women's Day, celebration in Southend, will take place on:
Saturday, 7th March 2015
11am - 4pm

and will comprise of
The Purple Sash Parade and Post-Parade Party

The Purple Sash Parade:

The Starting/ Meeting Point:-  The Statue, adjacent to Southend Victoria Station.
Meeting times:- 10.40am - 11am

Parader's are asked to don their sash, on arrival, we will then organise ourselves into ranks, and be ready to set off on our parade promptly at 11am.

Paraders are invited to bring whistles, voo voo sala's and depending on funds raised we hope to have a mobile PA system which will be playing songs of empowerment as we parade down the Southend High Street... Banners and flags are also on our wish-list... 

If you are creative and want to make your own banner, placard or flag. these must be Purple & White as these are the official colours for International Women's Day! 

We will parade in an orderly, but noisy fashion down the full length of the Southend High Street - the parade itself will take around 45 minutes dependant on the number of paraders.

At the end of the parade, we will move off in an orderly way to our Post Parade Party Venue
(Venue to be confirmed) 

Post Parade Party:

The Post Parade Party will comprise of:

• Presentations by local women who advocate to social justice locally and internationally.
• Stall promoting local women artisans and business
• Stalls promoting community groups and services which provide help.support and empowerment for local women, personally and professionally.

The full list of speakers will be provided a little nearer the time.

As you might be aware, the Purple Sash Parade & Post Parade Party, raises funds for:

• SoS Women's Refuge: (60%)
  The refuge provides a range of services, help and support to local women and children escaping Domestic Violence; including emergency shelter.
  
• Momo Biogas (40%)
  Seeks to improve the lives of women and children in rural and remote Africa, through providing renewable gas; liberating the women and girls from the dangers of collecting wood in the wilds, where women and girls are vulnerable to predation by the wild-life. Through this project we are also improving the health and education outcomes for women and children.

For more information, buy your sash, or book your stall, please email:

Anna M. Heim

IWD - Projects Manager Southend-on-Sea

Full Project Accounts will be published here, 2-weeks after the Parade

Preparations begin for Purple Parade 2015

Greetings to all the wonderful women of Southend...

Further to being overwhelmed by my grief this year, and as a consequence only being able to organise a Coffee Morning to Celebrate International Women's Day in Southend in 2014... team building and event development is going to start early... In fact it's starting next month as International Women's Day is far too important not to celebrate!!!

As you all know I use this event to raise money for two Charities through the sale of Parader's Commemorative Sashes... The cost of the sashes hasn't changed - They are £10.00 each and will be dispatched to the Paraders 14-days before the 2015 event...

In 2015, I aspire to gather a minimum of 1000, women from the Community to Parade with me in Commemoration of the women (our mothers, grand-mothers and great-grandmothers) who did so much to ensure that we and our daughters have the many freedoms we enjoy today! If we manage to get more than 1000 official paraders for the event, that would be fantastic...

So who are the charities you're supporting I hear you ask???
After costs:

• 60% of funds raised will go to the SoS - Women's Refuge:
  The refuge provides a range of help and support to local women and children escaping Domestic Violence, including emergency shelter.
• 40% Momo Biogas
  Momo Biogas is a project which I am involved with in Africa and seeks to improve the lives of women and girls in rural and remote Africa, starting in Kenya. More information about this project will be published in its own dedicated blog in the very near future.

As well as the Parade, I will also be hosting a Post Parade event, which will include a Market Places for local women's groups, community based charities and the many arty/crafty women from our local area to sell their good and or promote their services. We will also have some public speakers; to address you on issues which affect us all!

If you are interested in participating as a Parader, or if you would like to book a stall for the Post Parade Event, now is the time to start emailing me with your expressions of interest.

Contact me: anna@annaheimonline.com

2014 - Purple Parade Southend - The Plan

Yes, it's that time of the year again where all attention is focused on finalising the plan for the International Women's Day - Purple Parade Event in Southend... With a theme of "Inspiring Change" we

Following on from the success of the past, the Purple Parade & post-Parade Event, we will once again follow the format of previous years...

We would like to remind you that every year the Purple Parade raises funds for one local and one international charity, so please give generously to our collectors on the day.

• The local Charity we are supporting is The Dove Charity which provides support to women and children who are coping with Domestic Violence
• The International Charity we are supporting is: Momo Biogas - Kenya, which seeks to improve the lives of women and girls in rural and remote Kenya

The Rules:
All Parader's must wear at least 1-item of PURPLE clothing.
When Parading - please do so in an orderly fashion. No Running is allowed in the main body of the parade.

Parade Commemorative Sashes:
We are offering Purple Parade Commemorative Sashes at a cost of £7.00 each.
If you'd like to order a commemorative sash to wear on the day we must receive your order with payment no later than Friday 21st February 2014. Email: anna@annaheimonline.com to place your order!

The Meeting Place:
All Parader's are asked to meet at The Statue outside Southend Victoria Station.
Please be at the Meeting Place by 11am as we intend to commence the Parade by 11.15am at the latest

The Route:
We will parade in an orderly fashion down the full length of Southend High Street, turning left at Pier Hill to proceed along the Eastern Esplanade to The Britannia for the post-Parade Event.

The Post Parade Event:
We have a limited number of stalls available to hire on a first-come-first-served offer. Stalls cost £20 payable on the day. Please contact Anna Heim before 21st February to book your stall!

As well as stalls, there will be music, presentations from some of Southend's most inspired and inspirational women, arts, crafts, fashion items, face-painting for children as well as food and drinks.

The event will conclude at 4.30pm

We hope you will join us for the 2014, International Women's Day Purple Parade - Southend.
If you'd like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact Anna Heim

2013 Purple Parade Summary

The Day started with me sharing the following video message for International Women's Day from the UN's Women's Executive Director ~ Michelle Bachelet

The slowly started to get ready for the day... 

A group of 8 - 10 of US gathered at the statue  "The Kiss"adjacent to Victoria Station... with all the parader's assembled, we set of for our discrete and modest parade down the High Street and along the The Esplanade Hotel, Eastern Esplanade at a little before 11.15am... By 12.10pm we had arrived at The Esplanade Hotel for the Parade after-party which included a stunning performance by the Yardarm Folk Orchestra, a recital of poetry and verse by Cherry Scott, and excellent conversation about the history of the day and why in our view International Women's Day is so important and should be celebrated... Ideas were shared as to making next years parade bigger and better with participants and contributors making a commitments  to participate in the 2014 event.

At 2.30pm we settled down for hearty pub-lunch at the Estuary Hotel and we all went home some 90 minutes later, satisfied that although there were only 25 of us celebrating we were there and had a great time... and something had happened to celebrate International Women's day in Southend. 

So here's to next year!...

Below follows a few photos of the after party.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.554011994630777&type=1

The Purple Parade is an Anna Heim Community Collaboration and is produced by Anna M. Heim as part of her ongoing independent community development activities. Anna had been on the Turning Tides IWD Planning Committee from 2009 to 2011 at which time the Turning Tides Committee disbanded as each of the member pursued other community based projects within the Borough of Southend-on-Sea and Turning Tides metamorphosed into a new type of organisation, and sadly with no scope for this event... 

The Purple Parade as produced by Anna has the blessing of the former committee, which Anna and her former colleagues Chris Sternshine and Jane Sealy hope will reform in some fashion in the not too distant future. 

In 2012, without a licence or insurance and minimal publicity - Anna and a few of her friends and colleague paraded down the centre of the Southend High Street to Pier Hill... dressed in purple and with a banner announcing the parade to Saturday morning shoppers - the parade group were welcomed to whoops and cheers as the two groups came together to celebrating International Women's day in Royal Square 

We (The Purple Paraders') then headed off to Utopia Coffee Lounge for refreshments before dispersing...

From the feedback - the 3 Way Split Project is working on producing a bigger and better event in partnership with the women of Southend for 2013...

The 2013 IWD Purple Parade Southend will be held on

Saturday 9th March 2013

The Meeting Place: Southend Victoria Station ~ The Plaza

Meeting Time: 10am

Parade Start Time: 10.15am

Women and girls of all ages and the men who love the women in their lives and support them are invited to wear at least one item of Purple clothing and parade with us in celebration of the achievements of the women and girls of Southend-on-Sea...

You will be able to join the parade at any point along the direct route down the High Street, to the Pier. We are also planning an After Parade Event

If you are interested in talking part in this annual event and would like to participate please do not hesitate to contact  anna@annaheimonline.com for more information - please "FOLLOW" and share this blog.