Rotherham’s Women of Steel

It was a delight and an honour to be present with our Rotherham Women of Steel when they were presented with formal letters of appreciation by Kevan Jones, Minister for Veterans.

Denis with Mrs Gladys Brand from Herringthorpe who worked at Darwins making anti aircraft shells!

Denis with Mrs Ruth Sowter from Thorpe Hesley

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Marking International Women’s Day in Rotherham

In Rotherham today for a fantastic event to mark International Women’s Day. Over 160 people, mainly women, came along to Rotherham’s version of the BBC Question Time in the Rotherham Minster. I was honoured to chair a panel of pretty formidable women – Polly Toynbee – Guardian columnist; Margaret Prosser – Deputy Chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission; Joan Smith – novelist, journalist and human rights activist and Nan Sloane – Director of the Centre for Women and Democracy.

And the collection for the Women and Children of Haiti raised £255.00 – which is fantastic and a very generous gesture from Rotherham’s women.

There was a very clear appetite for more debate and discussion like this and it’s something I am very keen to support. Our thanks must go to the South Yorkshire Women’s Development Trust and the Rotherham Women’s Network for organising the event and a special thanks to Canon David Bliss and his team at the Minster for their welcome and hospitality.

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So how do you cook an omelette?

I recently visited Thorpe Hesley Infants School to have a look at their new classroom block and new SureStart Children’s Centre. After an amazing assembly with the very youngest children in the school leading with their interpretation of the Chinese New Year, I went along with the Headteacher, Sue Kaskiewicz, to see one of the activities for parents in the children’s centre – Jamie Oliver’s outreach cookery class! Half a dozen Mums were in learning how to cook omelettes – a quick, cheap and nutritious meal!! And of course – my timing was perfect – just in time to be the official taster!

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Rotherham’s ‘Women of Steel’

I am delighted that here in Rotherham we will shortly be having a ‘bit of a do’ to commemorate the wartime work of our local ‘Women of Steel’. I began campaigning on this issue with my colleague Richard Caborn and the Sheffield Star just before Christmas. In just a few weeks we have ‘found’ 41 Rotherham women who were drafted into the local steelworks during World War Two – to replace the men who had gone off to war. Only las week, when I was campaigning in Greasborough, I met a wonderful lady – now in her late 80’s who worked at Steel Peech and Tozers – or ‘Steelos’ as I know it’s know locally. She’s taken us up to 41 and I hope that we will find yet more before the mid-March event.

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