Estimated reading time:6 minutes, 58 seconds
Everybody has a story. Play guru Anita Grant is also the joint founder of Islington4women – a group of voluntary sector leaders, council officers and local councillors who champion the view that Islington is a good place to be a woman. Q&A with Nicola Baird. You can join the discussion by coming to the talk and cake-laden event on Saturday 27 April, see how at the bottom of this interview.
Anita Grant: joint funder of islington4women (c) islington faces
Q: What’s your connection to Islington?
I have lived most of my life in Islington. I was born on Liverpool Street in the old Royal Free hospital and although I grew up over the border in Camden I went to Hungerford school, then Camden school for girls and did a degree at London Metropolitan. I lived on Parkhurst road N7 for over 10 years and I brought my children up there before moving to Brighton. I have been CEO of Islington Play Association – a local children’s charity since 2006.
FOLLOW ISLINGTON FACES a new interview is published every week. Please also come and see our free “Inspiring Islington” photography exhibition at Islington Museum from 5 April – 3 June 2019. More info on www.islingtonfacesblog.com/events
I moved out of Islington in 2012 and moved to Brighton, I had two daughters 14 and 16 and a son who was 4. I was seeing a massive change in the way children’s lives were being lived. My daughters had played out freely in the estate where we lived in Holloway but it was unlikely that that would have been possible for my son. I had always played in adventure playgrounds as a child and was working at Islington Play to make sure that they stayed free and open to local children, but we were already seeing it getting more and more difficult for children to get there as they were not being allowed to walk the streets without adults.
The move out of London made sense for all my family but I have remained working here (and commuting!) as I am passionately committed to the importance of excellent free play opportunities for children.
=========
Places Anita loves in Islington
- Family Saturdays at Lumpy Hill, Timbuktu and Toffee park are open for all ages of children and their parents to play together and meet their neighbours. It is a great way to meet local mums and get it to know what’s going on.
- I love the cafes and food diversity in Islington. There are all cuisines for all budgets. The cafe in Paradise Park is part of the children’s centre and families are actively encouraged to come, toys are always out and there is loads of local info available.
================
Maggie Elliott, chair of Islington Giving hands the podium to Anita Grant and Suzanne Lee, join founders of Islington4women at Islington’s breakfast to celebrate International Women’s Day 2019. (c) islington faces
Q: Why did you set up islington4women?
Islington has a long history of housing amazing women, women who have believed they could challenge and change the world. I feel like we are able to speak out and be listened to, precisely because the path has been forged before us. I have always felt that as a woman of colour I am supported and accepted here in Islington and was outraged that the vision of my borough was so wrong in the report.
Suzanne Lee (Artistic Director of All Change) and I came together after being chosen as ‘Bold women for change’ by Islington. We instantly hit it off and were equally outraged by the Radio 4 report when we have both been leaders of organisations working with women and families for many years and have felt a sense of belonging and support from being in Islington.
Q: It’s been a year since Radio 4 Women’s Hour called Islington the worst place for women… now you’ve stopped being offended do you think they had a point?
The year’s worth of work of talking to and finding out about women’s experiences of the borough has been really interesting. The big headlines have been illustrated for us. For example the poor levels of mental wellbeing described can be seen through the prism of the issues around safety that have been such a strong thread in the responses.
The power of community and the ability to mix with neighbours and peers is well documented and understood in relation to wellbeing. The feeling that it is not safe for women and children to even walk in the street is a massive problem.
Q: What’s islington4women doing?
We are working hard to think through the issues of safety both in terms of being part of conversations and explorations of solutions to the very real crime and violence seen on our streets but also in terms of prevention and perception.
We will be organising a night walk through the borough encouraging women of all ages to join and think about practical things that might help (lights, street furniture etc).
We are also looking at ways that we can build on the age-old possibilities of elders supporting younger women. Thinking about mums and grandmas – even when the actual family maybe separated – how can we create the framework for these interactions that bring so much to families?
Anita Grant and Suzanne Lee, both have busy work lives but are also joint founders of Islington4women. (c) islington faces
Islington4women work for the next 12 months:
Recommendations:
- Work to make Islington the first and most ‘Women Friendly’ borough
- Explore, honour and celebrate the contribution women have made to Islington throughout history
- Consider the potential impact on women in the creation of every new policy or policy update
- Mobilise the potential of women to tackle crime and make Islington a safer place
- Aim for gender-neutral uniforms in all Islington schools
Future Priority Work areas:
- Encourage more women to vote and engage with politics
- Develop, support and champion initiatives/events which make all women feel represented and that they belong
- Bring women of all ages together to develop new intergenerational approaches to tackling crime and promoting safety
- Utilise social media and online platforms to celebrate women’s stories, campaign and champion action and debate around issues which matter to them
- Get examples of local women from today and in history included in the school curriculum
Q: How do I sign up?
At the moment we are not a formal group, we have the key steering group and we bring our own and our organisation’s resources to create events and plans. We are open to anyone who wants to come along to our events, feed in, talk through their ideas and if we can find the way then we will make it happen! The best way to know what we are doing is to follow us on twitter and instagram. We will be getting a website very soon to help with communication (at the moment see https://islingtonplay.org.uk/take-part/projects-campaigns/islington4women/).
- Twitter and insta @islington4women
- Come to a FREE event discussing CAN YOU LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE IN ISLINGTON? featuring Flora Williamson from islington4women on Saturday 27 April, 2.30-4.30pm at Islington Museum bookable here Speakers also include Merium Bhuiyan from Cakeface Makeup and Sheri Lawal from Choices. It’s a chance to discuss how women of all ages can live their best life in Islington. Come and join in and do also bring cake – we’re going to listen and eat and chat and eat!
- Inspiring Islington photo exhibition featuring Merium Bhuiyan (who is on the speaker panel on 27 April) is at Islington Museum, 245 St John Street, EC1. It’s FREE and open Mon-Sat (but not on wed or sun), 10am-5pm. You are very welcome, come on your own or with friends.
Over to you
If you’d like to nominate someone to be interviewed who grew up, lives or works in Islington, or suggest yourself, please let me know, via nicolabaird dot green at gmail dot com. If you enjoyed this post you might like to look at the A-Z index, or search by interviewee’s roles or Meet Islingtonians to find friends, neighbours and inspiration. Thanks for stopping by. Nicola
