City PRs bring International Women's Day to Manchester
The International Women's Day is to be marked in Manchester this month thanks to the work of the city's PR community.
On 8 March cities around the world will celebrate the centenary of the first International Women's Day, which was started to raise awareness of women's issues and to celebrate their achievements.
Having seen London's plans to mark the occasion with a photoshoot bringing together inspirational women and other events, two Manchester PRs set out to bring International Women's Day to Manchester.
Lollipop PR managing director Emma Beck and Naomi Timperley, who runs the Social Media Boom consultancy, have teamed up with Oxfam and the local council to get Manchester involved.
Beck said: "We heard that a photoshoot was happening in London and wondered why not in Manchester so, after speaking to Manchester City Council and Oxfam, we got the go ahead and their support to deliver an event in Manchester.
"We’ve only had a week to deliver it but the support from people like Sue Woodward of The Sharp Project and Jane Kenyon of Well Heeled Divas - and from other media/ PRs including Sandy Lindsay of Tangerine, Richard Hector Jones at Creative Concern, Lisa Ashurst of Ashurt Comms, Roz Hughes and Emma James - has been fantastic."
On Friday 50 women including MediaCity CEO Sinead Greenaway, councillor Suzanne Richards and Manchester Evening News editor Maria McGeoghan will kick off the city's celebrations with a photoshoot on the steps of the town hall.
Then on the day itself next Tuesday there will performance art, debates, film screenings and a production of The Vagina Monologues in aid of the Birdhouse Fund.
You can find out more about Manchester's plans for International Women's Day here.