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Case studies "Barnsley Metropolitan District Council: Suffragette Day"
Barnsley Metropolitan District Council: Suffragette Day
Summary of activity
Votes for Women! Celebrating 90 years of the female franchise to encourage young people to register.
Aims and objectives of the activity
To highlight to young people the importance of being registered to vote and using their vote by highlighting the fight that Suffragettes had to win in order to be able to vote. Also encouraging participation for the wider community.
Description of activity
The Electoral Services Manager, Gail Dalton, arranged for a stall to be placed in a prominent position in the main shopping precinct in Barnsley town centre. The stall was covered in Electoral Commission, Houses of Parliament and Barnsley town council posters and literature with give-away items to encourage people to stop and look. Alll the staff were dressed as Suffragettes and held up placards saying "Votes for Women" and advertising the 80 years since women gained the right to vote. They had hired a living statue who also bore a sash saying "Votes for women". There was also a competition on offer to win an Ipod which also attracted people to the stall where staff could also check people were registered to vote and encourage them to complete registration forms. Youth Workers were used as the "suffragettes" as they were used to engaging young people and were able to get them to stop and listen to the issues.
What went well?
"The whole day went well and it was good to see so many young people interested in what we were doing this was helped by the freebies that the EC and Houses of Parliament provided and the experienced youth workers who were actively engaging with the young people on the street. " (Gail Dalton)
What didnt go so well?
This is a hard one is answer as I didn't receive any negative feedback
How was the activity evaluated?
Not as yet
To what extent were the aims and objectives achieved?
Positive response from members of the public, lots of people took away information - message was put across in a fun and interesting way.
Timeline
Longer than I anticipated, it took up a lot of my time at an already busy period. I would estimate it took a good 3-4 days overall to get everything planned and sorted etc
Overall budget
We did not have a budget for this but the overall spend was approx no more than £800 and I intend to try to claim this back from the Participation Fund
Number of people working on the activity
Gail Dalton, managed the project and had several helpers on the day dressed up, taking photographs etc
Barnsley Metropolitan District Council: Suffragette Day
Summary of activity
Votes for Women! Celebrating 90 years of the female franchise to encourage young people to register.
Aims and objectives of the activity
To highlight to young people the importance of being registered to vote and using their vote by highlighting the fight that Suffragettes had to win in order to be able to vote. Also encouraging participation for the wider community.
Description of activity
The Electoral Services Manager, Gail Dalton, arranged for a stall to be placed in a prominent position in the main shopping precinct in Barnsley town centre. The stall was covered in Electoral Commission, Houses of Parliament and Barnsley town council posters and literature with give-away items to encourage people to stop and look. Alll the staff were dressed as Suffragettes and held up placards saying "Votes for Women" and advertising the 80 years since women gained the right to vote. They had hired a living statue who also bore a sash saying "Votes for women". There was also a competition on offer to win an Ipod which also attracted people to the stall where staff could also check people were registered to vote and encourage them to complete registration forms. Youth Workers were used as the "suffragettes" as they were used to engaging young people and were able to get them to stop and listen to the issues.
What went well?
"The whole day went well and it was good to see so many young people interested in what we were doing this was helped by the freebies that the EC and Houses of Parliament provided and the experienced youth workers who were actively engaging with the young people on the street. " (Gail Dalton)
What didnt go so well?
This is a hard one is answer as I didn't receive any negative feedback
How was the activity evaluated?
Not as yet
To what extent were the aims and objectives achieved?
Positive response from members of the public, lots of people took away information - message was put across in a fun and interesting way.
Timeline
Longer than I anticipated, it took up a lot of my time at an already busy period. I would estimate it took a good 3-4 days overall to get everything planned and sorted etc
Overall budget
We did not have a budget for this but the overall spend was approx no more than £800 and I intend to try to claim this back from the Participation Fund
Number of people working on the activity
Gail Dalton, managed the project and had several helpers on the day dressed up, taking photographs etc