Tickets on Sale for “Double Standards” - the Claire Martin and Liane Carroll Benefit Concert 4th March.

Tickets are on sale for the Claire Martin and Liane Carroll Benefit Concert on 4th March. “Double Standards - an evening of jazz and joy” in support of the Appeal, will start at 7.00pm and finish at 9.00pm, though the cash Bar will remain open and audience members are welcome to stay, make music and socialise. Doors will open at 6.30pm. Local a cappella group Women of Note and feminist punk band Siren, will open the concert. Siren will provide the first ever public performance of their new “Song for Mary”. Tickets via Eventbrite (double-standards-4mar.eventbrite.co.uk/ ) or from Resident in Kensington Gardens, Brighton.

Claire and Liane will sing numbers by Waits, Mitchell and Bennett skilfully mixed with stylish reworkings of lesser known classics and new original material. The two friends will provide some seriously swinging music.

These internationally acclaimed singers and their performances have been described as:

"Worldclass’" - The Times

"Faultless"  - London Jazz News

"An evening of musical fireworks that excites and delights.” - Musical Theatre Review

“Liane Carroll doesn’t just sing jazz, she is jazz.” - MOJO Magazine

“Claire Martin ranks among the four or five finest female jazz vocalists on the planet”. - Jazz Times USA

Zoe Lyons to MC Jazz Concert

Brighton-based comedian Zoe Lyons has agreed to act as MC on 4th March at our benefit concert “Double Standards”. We are so proud that Zoe supports our campaign for a statue for Mary Clarke.

Zoe took her first steps down the comedy path in 2003 after training as an actress at the Poor School in London. She went on to win the Funny Women Competition in 2004 and her debut Edinburgh show was nominated for the if.comedy newcomer award. In 2008 she won the Dave, Funniest Joke of The Fringe Award. Zoe has appeared in many TV shows including Mock the Week, The Wright Stuff, Michael McIntyre Roadshow and many more.

Simon Fanshawe OBE becomes a Patron of the Appeal

We are delighted that well-known writer, broadcaster and campaigner, Simon Fanshawe, has agreed to become one of our Patrons. Simon has lived in Brighton since 1975 when he came here to study law at Sussex University. He is a Perrier Award winning comic and has broadcast regularly on BBC Radios 4 and 5 and GLR, made TV documentaries, and written features and interviews for many national newspapers. A co-founder of Stonewall and of the Kaleidoscope Trust, he started and chaired the Economic Partnership in Brighton and Hove, led the successful city bid, served on the Board of Brighton Dome and Festival and was Chair of Sussex University’s governing Council. He runs a consultancy business which supports organisations to diversify their senior staff. He is Chair of Hexagon Housing Association and  on the Board of Powerful Women. He is married to Adam.

Simon said:  “How wonderful to discover another great and significant woman in Brighton who fought for women’s rights. And to see a statue in the centre of town will continue to remind us all how that remains vital and tragically still unfinished business for women in the UK as well as worldwide”

Council Passes Notice of Motion supporting the Appeal

We are very grateful to Independent Councillor Tony Janio of Brighton & Hove City Council. Tony took a Notice of Motion to the Council meeting of 30th January 2020 which   gained all-party support. It was seconded by Labour Councillor Amanda Grimshaw and supported by Green Councillor Lizzie Deane and was passed unanimously. We are so grateful to all the councillors for their support.

The Notice of Motion read as follows:

“This council is honoured to have granted £10,000 to the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal -
to provide a bronze maquette (model) of the eventual statue - and recognises the
historical importance of this memorial statue and its social and educational potential
as a symbol of democracy, equality and women’s rights and should therefore continue
to actively support and publicise this initiative. This council requests the Chair of the TECC Committee ensures that officers bring a report to the next meeting of the committee that details ways in which the council, working across its departments and in liaison with the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal, can promote public awareness and help raise the remaining £60,000 required to fund the statue.”