Marching for a Gude Cause?

One of the 1909 suffrage banners proclaimed, 'A Gude Cause Maks A Strong Arm', and the October 2009 planning group took the ‘Gude Cause’ name.


100 years on and we have the right to vote for all aged 18 and over, but we still have some way to go in achieving equality, respect and a life free from violence for all women.


Over 5,000 marched on Saturday 10th October, and it was one of the most uplifting, optimistic, proud demonstrations in which I have ever participated.


Unusually many different bits of my life came together in the one procession, and it was obviously the same for many women. Schools, workplaces, universities, local communities, trade unions, political parties, women’s groups, all reflecting on the tremendous contribution that women’s struggles have made to society.


I met up with parents, students and teachers from my son’s school - James Gillespie’s High School; I walked with the STUC banner and trade union comrades from numerous other unions, including EIS, PCS, CWU, and UNITE – the STUC Women’s Committee had done well in spreading the word; I loved seeing friends from the Edinburgh University School of Social Science and Political Studies, with their banner bearing the name of the new Chrystal MacMillan Building; the Scottish Labour Party’s new banner, for Equality and Social Justice, gathered members together; and wonderful women, so many I recognized, from numerous women’s organizations from across Scotland, waved flags, sang, and celebrated their own strengths. And at the front of the march, women dressed in the style of the suffragettes, including one of my neighbours, as a member of the Edinburgh Costume Society. Wonderful hats, long coats and sashes, purple green and white, walking with pride down the North Bridge in the sunshine.


And it all began with two women, Helen Kay and Janet Fenton, putting their heads together after the 2007 election, and thinking about how to revitalize the women’s movement, and to re-connect the electoral process as a voice for women. The Gude Cause project grew and grew - costumes, history lessons, films, banner making workshops, a songbook – and we found our voices again – fantastic!


Check the website for more information and photograph www.gudecause.org.uk

Ann Henderson
Assistant Secretary