Women’s Work, a Community Sit-In and an Anti-Fascist MP
A bumper round-up of community power, women’s history and radical action across Scotland.
This newsletter was originally sent on 15/05/2026.
Have you missed us? We’ve been so busy with exciting stuff, we haven’t had a chance to write about it. So this month, we’re bringing you a bumper issue! We have events coming up that we’d love you to join us for, including a film screening at Kinning Park Complex on 21 May, our monthly Patreon Gathering on 30th May, and a stall at WestFest in June.
We also have a round up of activities since we saw you last – from our Women’s History Month event in March, to an amazing weekend at the recent Yardworks Festival, not to mention the fun we had with Girlguiding Scotland and their future changemakers! If that wasn’t enough, we also have a book review – a biography of Scotland’s first female MP. Don’t know who she is? Let us tell you all about Katherine Stewart Murray, aka the Red Duchess…
Film Screening at Kinning Park Complex – 21 May
This event formed part of Kinning Park Complex’s 30th-anniversary programme.
Join Kinning Park Complex and Protests and Suffragettes for a special showing of Caroline Walker: Women’s Work!
– Thursday 21st May
– 6pm-8pm
– Kinning Park Complex, 43 Cornwall Street, Glasgow, G41 1BA
– Free, but booking recommended
In this documentary directed by Nicola Black, internationally acclaimed artist Caroline Walker explores the diverse social, economic and cultural experiences of women living in contemporary society. From female tailors to midwives, from chambermaids to migrant workers, Caroline paints the unseen, often underpaid work of women everywhere.
The screening is part of KPC’s 55-day celebration of their 30th Anniversary. Thirty years ago a courageous group of women and young families occupied the building at Kinning Park Complex, demanding it be put into community hands. Over the years that followed women, and artists have had a key role to play in keeping the building open with the community at its centre. Check out KPC’s Anniversary Activities as there’s loads of great events planned.
We are proud to part of this vibrant community (as our studio has been at KPC for many years) and we’re co-hosting this event with the KPC team. Join us!
Book your FREE ticket here
Join P&S for our 30th May Patreon Gathering – online
Join the conversation through the P&S Patreon community.
At our next Patreon Gathering on 30 May 10-11am, we’ll be exploring the history of the 1996 Kinning Park Complex Community Sit-In. We’ll share historical images of KPC when it was a school, and from the Sit-In when a group of local women and young families demanded that the building should stay open – and be given to the community.
"We have to try and change things, and we have to do it… from a grass roots level."
We have an oral history interview from Helen Kyle, one of the activists involved in the Sit-In. Helen’s background was in community development and she knew how to organise, so when the Town Council announced the building would be shut and would no longer be a community centre, she sprang into action. She talked to single mothers who relied on the after school club, and the people who attended classes at KPC, and invited them to meetings. The day before the building was to be locked, they organised a rota and people did 8 hour shifts throughout the day. The sit-in lasted for 55 days, and the building has been in community hands ever since!
We’ll also be hearing from a special guest, Ren Clark, KPC’s Events and Volunteer Coordinator. They’ll be talking about KPC’s present, as well as its history, and the current Anniversary Celebrations they’ve been involved in organising.
Our monthly Patreon Gatherings have been live since December, and it’s been so much fun getting to chat to members at events like this! We’ve had some wonderful guests, as well as members of the Protests and Suffragettes team doing what they do best – celebrating changemakers like Dr Flora Murray, Fanny Parker, Jessie Soga and more. We’ve also sent out several Creative Catalyst goodie bags with exclusive merch – like our Rebel totes! Don’t miss out on all this goodness – join our Community Champion Tiertoday for just £5 per month. Support our work, and join the conversation!
Join P&S Patreon today for £5 – and we’ll see you 30th May!
Places we’ve been, people we’ve seen
Next Gen Changemakers
We had a fabulous time with Girlguiding Scotland Cityscapes Adventure in Glasgow on 28 March. P&S was one of 15 organisations providing fun and engaging activities for more than 2000 Girl Guides, Brownies and Rainbows.
The P&S team took over Glasgow City Chambers for the day and we facilitated badgemaking with empowering feminist slogans, our Scottish Suffragette Playing card games, and mindful colouring of STEM Suffragettes. A busy day – and a privilege to chat with these future changemakers about trailblazing women from the past!
Street Art and Suffragettes
Find out more about SWG3 Yardworks Festival.
We had an amazing weekend at the Yardworks Festival in Glasgow 2-3 May. This street art festival brought together artists from Scotland, the UK and Europe!
We took along our Pop-up Shop and had a fab time chatting with folk about women’s histories and selling our (exclusive, limited edition) P&S merch. We also got to see some extraordinary street art being installed and to celebrate art and community.
Where we’ll be next: WestFest
Explore the WestFest programme.
Protests and Suffragettes will have a stall at Glasgow’s WestFest on 17 June. WestFest brings together 100+ Glasgow-based community organisations for events, performances and workshops.
Hope to see you there!
Contact us about a P&S pop-up at your event
Our ‘Singing Suffragettes’ event for Women’s History Month – what a night!
We can’t believe it’s already been two months since our March event (and our last newsletter)!
The evening was full of inspiring conversations on the approaching 2028 Centenary of the Equal Franchise Act, and how we can all work together to make sure Scottish women’s history is properly highlighted. We shared our goals for 2028 – and heard brilliant ideas from those attending – ranging from podcasts to murals, from marches to festivals, and potential partners. We can safely say we ended the night with plenty of visions for the future!
The incredible Doctur Normul performed beautiful renditions of original songs set to the Holloway Jingles (written by Suffragettes in 1911), alongside other songs from organising and protest history. Thanks to Kinning Park Complex for partnering with us to host this fantastic night, and of course a massive thank you to all who came along to celebrate Scotland’s historical women with us!
P&S book review: Red Duchess
Read our review of Red Duchess on Bella Caledonia.
Red Duchess: Kitty Atholl, A Rebel in Westminster – by Amy Gray, History Press.
If you can’t name Scotland’s first female MP, you’re not alone. Katherine Stewart Murray, Duchess of Atholl, was elected in 1923 – but in 1913 she was a member of the Anti-suffrage League! She was the first woman to hold a ministerial post in a Conservative government but fell out with Tory colleagues over her anti-fascist activism in the 30s, earning her the nickname Red Duchess.
Members of the Protests and Suffragettes team enjoyed learning more about this fascinating and complex trailblazer who deserves to be better known – as we reviewed Amy Gray’s new biography that re-voices Kitty Atholl for Bella Caledonia.
Read our review on Bella Caledonia
