Leighton Buzzard photoshoot celebrates International Women's Day

Leighton Buzzard residents took part in a special photoshoot to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD).

Encouraged by over 100 years of IWD gatherings around the world, townsfolk Clare Twelvetrees and Sally Seddon gathered community members to pose for pictures as part of a #BreaktheBias campaign.

The event was part of the global IWD celebrations, held today (March 8), which highlight the economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

Clare, who co-founded international charitable organisation, Equality Starts at Home, said: "We believe that equality at home will enable women to fulfil their potential and will ultimately create a better society for all.

"We also believe in diversity, inclusion and anti-discrimination in all its forms.

"These aims are reflected in the IWD focus for 2022 which highlights that, whether conscious or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead. Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field."

Sally, Treasurer with Fairtrade Leighton Linslade, added: "Clare and I, along with some of our friends, have been involved in various local campaigning activities on issues of equality and fairness for many years.

"IWD seemed a great opportunity to engage the local community again focussing on an action that was easy to engage people in and also thought provoking. We are also thrilled to see the work and activities being promoted by Leighton-Linslade Town Council around IWD and hope this raises people’s awareness of their own ability to create change."

Sally and Clare are encouraging residents to visit the IWD website, which highlights actions that can be taken as individuals and communities.

They concluded: "We're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day. We can break the bias in our communities.

"We can break the bias in our workplaces. We can break the bias in our schools, colleges and universities.

"As Gloria Steinem, world-renowned feminist, journalist and activist once explained: 'The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.'"

To visit the IWD website, go to: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/