Children from Portsmouth schools visited the UK Parliament on Tuesday 27 November 2018 to celebrate the centenary of women’s right to vote.
Beneath the statue of Suffragette campaigner, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, children from Charter Academy, Cottage Grove Primary School, Craneswater Junior School, St Edmunds Catholic School and St Swithin’s Catholic Primary School sang three new songs commissioned by Portsmouth South MP, Stephen Morgan.
The special performance was a collaboration between schools, Portsmouth Music Hub and Stephen Morgan and was an opportunity for the children to learn more about the sacrifices made by the women of the Suffragette movement. On 21 November 1918, immediately after the First World War, Parliament finally passed The Representation of The People Act, 1918, which gave women over 30 the right to vote.
Dressed in Suffragette rosettes, the children gave a performance of Deeds Not Words, The Suffragettes and Hear Our Voice to invited guests and members of the public outside Parliament, before Stephen Morgan took them inside for a tour of the historic building. The three songs were created by Portsmouth Music Hub composers.
Sue Beckett, CEO of Portsmouth Music Hub, said:
‘Children from Portsmouth Schools have captured an important moment in time, when our country took a leap towards a fairer world, and the children’s performance evoked the struggle of the Suffragette movement; the passion, the dedication and the courage.
‘We’re very grateful to Stephen Morgan MP for commissioning the songs and giving the children the opportunity to perform at Parliament. Music really can bring history to life and the children’s performance has been a celebration of all the progress made to end discrimination in our laws and in our lives.’
Header photo: Portsmouth Music Hub Suffragettes Choir with Sue Beckett (l) and Stephen Morgan MP (r)
