Reclaim the Night Weekend

Saturday 9^th June: Children’s glass lantern painting and poster making workshop in preparation for Reclaim the Night

Today at St. Sidwell’s Community Centre from 11am-3pm in Exeter we held a fantastically successful art workshop for children to paint glass lanterns and placards.  An expertly conducted Twitter, Facebook, emailing and flyering campaign saw around 50 children come through the doors today to paint glass lanterns which will be put on display at the Reclaim the Night vigil and placards and posters which will be used during the Reclaim the Night walk.  A wonderful team of nine volunteers from Exeter Students’ Guild helped oversee the workshop and explain the message of Reclaim the Night – that of the importance of respect, kindness, love and solidarity so we can live in a happy and safe world any time of the day or night to children as young as 5.  The event also saw a lot of parents being persuaded to let some of their children stay up past their bed time for one night only to be part of Reclaim the Night! And it wasn’t just the children getting involved – teenagers, university students, adults, parents and grandparents all wanted to contribute something artistic to the Reclaim the Night event and did their fair share of glass painting, placard and banner making too!

Left: Part of the team of the fantastic Reclaim the Night volunteers gearing up for the art workshop!

Sunday 10^th June: Reclaim the Night speeches, walk and vigil

The actual Reclaim the Night walk and vigil takes place tomorrow on Sunday 10^th June.  The event begins at the Cathedral Green at 9pm with three speakers who are all prestigious members of the local community.  At 9.30pm there will be a walk from the Cathedral Green up the High Street to the top of Sidwell Street and back to protest against violence and harassment for women and girls on the streets at night.  Then just after 10pm we will return to the cathedral for a candlelit vigil to commemorate the suffering of women and girls across the globe.  There will also be the opportunity at the event to donate money to Devon Rape Crisis Services who see the devastating effects of sexual violence against women every day and work tirelessly to help mend women’s lives.  Please join us be you woman, man, child or animal in solidarity and support of women’s safety on the streets at night and don’t forget the banners and placards!