First World War: Then and Now
First Step North East is a not-for-profit organisation focused on giving opportunities to migrant women of all nationalities in Newcastle’s West End to help them achieve their goals. In this project, First Step helped 18 women explore the impact of the First World War on the Women’s Suffrage movement.
All their (suffragette) stories give me a motivation to stand beside people and help them.
Mervat Gad, project participant
The participants visited Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and the Literary and Philosophical Society to view exhibitions and access archive material to help them progress their research. Visits were also made to notable Suffragette, Emily Davison’s family grave in Morpeth, and to Longhorsley Green where she practiced speeches.
The group were able to develop skills through workshops aimed at improving their research and digital skills. Some volunteers were also trained to help mentor and support participants through their activities.
This resulted in five volunteers receiving accredited qualifications as part of the ‘Being a Volunteer’ course and another four receiving accredited qualifications in ‘Researching National and Local History’. From their research, the group developed two postcards and a short film showing a Suffragette march the group re-enacted at the Beamish Open Air Museum.
A final project event was hosted where participants delivered presentations and displayed their discoveries.