Susannah and Jacalyn as Ashford residents attended the community Reclaim the Streets March in Ashford on 6th March to raise awareness for the need for Safer Streets. The march went from Victoria Park, along Station Road, through to the Bandstand in the High Street, during the early evening to highlight the fact that many women feel that there is a curfew after dark. The march was well attended for a cold and dark March evening by the local community making a statement about how women need to feel safe when we go out. The date was also significant due to International Womens Day on the following Tuesday.
At the Bandstand, speeches were given by Cllr Lyn Suddards who organised the event along side some of the other female councillors, she mentioned the fear that was expressed when Sarah Everard’s body was found close to Ashford after her horrific murder.
Sam Griffin who gave a heart wrenching speech about the impact of the equally horrific murder of her cousin PCSO Julia James in May 2021 in Snowdon, how the her life was viewed differently to Sarah’s by the general public. Julia had local connections with Ashford as she previously worked in Ashford. We were encouraged to think about how we can educate everyone to challenge unacceptable behaviour and educate boys and men to support us.
Tracey Kerly, Chief Executive of Ashford Borough Council spoke about improvements made in Ashford Town Centre following the successful award of £500,000 to make the streets of Ashford safer particularly for women and girls. This has meant increased CCTV, removal of hedges and replacing with fencing in the memorial gardens, the potential development of a mobile phone app showing the safe routes, as well as additional spending on personal safety equipment, and training for the community
The final speech was from The Bishop of Dover, Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, who inspired us with her story of the mouse and how it is everyone’s business to help each other. The evening closed with some music.
