To mark the 80th anniversary of SI Sunderland, its members are planning to commission a piece of art, to stand in the city’s Keel Square. It will be a tribute to Sunderland’s industrious, but largely forgotten, women who worked in the shipyards during World War II.
At the time, Sunderland was the biggest shipbuilding city in the world, but when the men went off to war, the brave, industrious women took their place – welding, riveting and burning, as well as operating cranes, painting and general labouring. Seven hundred women carried out this perilous work, even though the shipyards were a strategic target for German bombers.
SI Sunderland members are working with a group of talented young female students to design the artwork, which will stand as a lasting legacy and become part of the city’s heritage for years to come.