This collection includes the born-digital records of The Women's Resource Centre (WRC). The first series consists of material relating to 'Sisters Doing it for Themselves', a project run by WRC to mark the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) in 2020.

This collection includes the recordings of 16 interviews carried out to mark the 50th anniversary of Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) in 2020. For the occasion, the Women's Resource Centre (WRC) ran a project called 'Sisters Doing It For Themselves', funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to create a unique oral history archive documenting the testimonies of current and past leaders.

The Women’s Voluntary and Community Sector (WVCS) grew out of the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM). The contribution of the WVCS in advancing women’s rights is largely undocumented. Many of the women who were involved in setting up women’s organisations and campaigning for change are now in their late 50s and 60s. Their struggles and achievements have remained largely invisible.

This archive illustrates the impact that the WVCS has had on the structural position of women, through campaigning and influencing. The archive will also provide insight into the impact on the lives of the women themselves as drivers of the movement.

The following women have been interviewed:
Rosalind Bragg - Maternity Action
Lee Eggleston OBE & Sheila Coates MBE - Rape Crisis
Sarbjit Ganger - Asian Women's Resource Centre
Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith - Healing Solidarity International Feminist Collective
Carolina Gottardo - Latin American Women's Rights
Vivienne Hayes MBE - Women's Resource Centre
Joyce Kallevik - WISH
Ranjit Kaur - Activist & Campaigner
Professor Liz Kelly - Child and Woman Abuse Studies, LMU
Marai Larasi MBE
Naana Otoo-Oyortey MBE - FORWARD
Pragna Patel - Southall Black Sisters
Mary-Ann Stephenson - Women's Budget Group
Dr Akima Thomas OBE - Women and Girls Network

The portraits of interviewees that accompany the interview recordings were taken by photographer Oluwatosin Wasi Daniju.

For more information, explore the project page.

This file includes the recorded audio of the interview with Rosalind Bragg, along with a transcript, a summary of the recording, and a photo of the interviewee. At the time of the interview, Rosalind was the Director of Maternity Action, a UK maternity rights charity committed to ending inequality and improving the health and wellbeing of pregnant women, partners and young children. Date of interview: 18/11/2019. Length of recording: 00:45:46.

This file includes the recorded audio of the interview with Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith, along with a transcript, a summary of the recording, and a photo of the interviewee. At the time of the interview, Esua was the Director of the Healing Solidarity International Feminist Collective, as well as a feminist activist and writer, with a lifetime's experience in the women's sector locally, nationally and internationally. Esua was the first woman of colour to be elected Chair of the Fawcett Society, and co-founder and (at the time of the interview) Chair of the Gender and Development Network. She was a commissioner for the Women's National Commission, and a member of the UK Government delegation to the UN's fourth World Conference on Women, in Beijing in 1995. Date of interview: 01/03/2021. Length of recording: 01:22:47.

This file includes the recorded audio of the interview with Marai Larasi MBE, along with a transcript, a summary of the recording, and a photo of the interviewee. Marai stepped down as Executive Director of Imkaan in 2019, after ten years. At the time of the interview, Imkaan was the only UK-based second tier women's organisation dedicated to addressing violence against Black and minoritised women and girls. Date of interview: 16/12/2019. Length of recording: 00:47:14.

This file includes the recorded audio of the interview with Mary-Ann Stephenson, along with a transcript, a summary of the recording, and a photo of the interviewee. At the time of the interview, Mary-Ann was the Director of Women's Budget Group, an independent network of academic researchers, policy experts and campaigners. Date of interview: 20/11/2019. Length of recording: 00:52:23.

This file includes the recorded audio of the interview with Dr Akima Thomas OBE, along with a transcript, a summary of the recording, and a photo of the interviewee. At the time of the interview, Akima was the Founder and Clinical Director of Women and Girls Network, a holistic therapeutic service working with women and girls surviving violence. Date of interview: 02/07/2020. Length of recording: 00:55:32.

This sub-series contains the recording of the interview.

This sub-series contains the recordings and a summary of the interview, together with documents relating to the content of the interview.

Papers related to interview narrative - interview part 1 [00:44:49] - as follows:
Photograph of an International Observer Service Certificate issued to Margaret Turner by the National Electoral Observer Network - South Africa 27-29 April 1994;
Photograph of an article by Margaret Turner 'Elections in South Africa May 1994' (2 pages).

Papers related to interview narrative - interview part 1 [00:37:58] - as follows:
Margaret Turner's Badge for the Women's International Coalition for Economic Justice (WICEJ);
Margaret Turner's WILPF business card.

The item is related to interview narrative - interview part 1 [00:49:48].

Photograph taken on the day of the interview.

The collection includes the born-digital records of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, British Section (WILPF).

The first series of records consists of oral histories recorded as part of a project called 'These Dangerous Women', to mark the 100th anniversary of WILPF.

Audio recording and transcript of an interview with Maureen Colquhoun. Interviewee: Gaby Weiner. Duration: 58:39:00

This collection includes digital archives produced by Greenham Women Everywhere, a partnership project between Scary Little Girls Association and The Heroine Collective.

The project was funded by Heritage Lottery South West and Supported by The University of The West of England in Bristol, Cornwall Council, Falmouth University, The Women’s Library at The London School of Economics, The East End Women’s Museum, Goldsmiths University of London, The Hypatia Trust, The Feminist Library, Kresen Kernow, the UK Parliament Vote 100 Project and Dreadnought South West.

This series inludes the oral history testimonies collected as part of the Greenham Women Everywhere project between 2019 and 2021. Each folder includes the audio recording of the interview together with a transcript of it, and a photograph of the intervieew/s where available.
The project team has travelled the UK interviewing the women who formed the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp. This is the largest collection of oral testimonies of the women yet collated, digitised and made available to the public.

Please note more interviews will be added in the coming months.

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Ailsa.
Ailsa had young children when the camp was set up in the 1980s and she got to know about Greenham thanks to her local CND group. She only stayed overnight once and mostly visited during the day and for the big demos. She talks about monthly peace camps at Aldermaston and Burghfield and how they went to court to 'get recognition that camping is a form of protest'. She also talks about other groups linked to the peace camps, such as Nuke Watch and Nuclear Information Service. She mentions the power of songs, NVDA and how reading 'Children of Hiroshima' was a very formative experience for her - at the end of the interview, she reads an extract from the book.
Ailsa was interviewed by Jessica Layton in 2019.
She was photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Ann and Sally Bell.
Ann was a PhD student when she first went to Greenham and Sally an American citizen living in the UK. The women met at Greenham, living permanently at Orange Gate between 1983-85. They found in Greenham a place where women grew in confidence, could 'be themselves', many women 'becoming' feminists in a space free of male hierarchy. Both women believe Greenham had a major impact on the Cold War as its existence and actions opened up debate about nuclear weapons. They remember Greenham Women as a generation that went on to achieve remarkable things, and believe Greenham gave them, personally, the confidence to understand you do not have to follow the rules if you believe they are wrong. In addition, Greenham provided them with a strong moral foundation to pass on, and the ability to question everything.
Ann and Sally were interviewed by Nicky Arikoglu in 2019.
They were photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Ann.
Without Ann and Karmen, Greenham would not have existed. Believing women's voices needed to be heard in a male dominated world of politics and anti-nuclear movements, they initiated the 1981 Women for Life on Earth walk from Cardiff to Greenham Common USAF base. Their aim was to initiate a public debate with the government regarding nuclear weapons, in particular Cruise missiles, to engage the media and make Greenham a household word. Ann believes Greenham 'had big implications...it gave a lot of different possibilities to a lot of women.' 'I can't say that Greenham stopped the arms race because I think it was one of many factors which made it imperative that leaders take disarmament seriously...but it changed the atmosphere.' Visiting Russia in 1983, they met with the Moscow Group for Trust, a peace group independent of the Soviet state, as well as with the official Soviet Peace Committee. For Karmen, 'Greenham was a protest of its time...I don't think it would happen today...it would be moved.' It enabled 'thousands upon thousands of women...(to) connect with women in other countries...maybe it changed the direction of their life.'
Ann and Karmen were interviewed by Nicky Arikoglu in 2019.
Ann was photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Anna and Mary and one of Mary.
Greenham was not the first time Mary was actively involved in social and political movement; prior to Greenham she had been supporting peace movement for years. Both Mary and her husband played an active role in Greenham in the 1980s. They had a van together that they would use to go from Bristol to Newbury, transporting goods to the women (fire wood and blankets etc.). Mary never stayed at camp overnight but had a good relationship with Orange Gate, and was part of actions such as codified phone-chains which signified when blockades would be best used to stop camp invasion. Anna attended a Quaker school and showed large interest in political movement from a young age, inspired by her mother's activism. With her mother, she attended camp as a young adult. Anna stated that with the climate change activism happening at the time of the interview, young people might think that Non-Violent Direct Action (NVDA) is a new concept, but Greenham paved the way for this.
Mary and Anna were interviewed by Emily Strange in Bristol in 2019.
They were photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Avryl and Tembre.
Avryl, her mum Marlene, her daughter Tembre, her sister, niece, neighbour's kids and friends all travelled to Embrace the Base from Dorset after hearing about Greenham through a women's consciousness raising group and CND. Avryl remembers Greenham being very welcoming, feeling at home and safe sitting drinking tea and chatting to women. She talks about the huge lesbian community which Avryl became part of, finding safety with women that she couldn't find anywhere else. She recalls putting ribbon and children's toys on the fence, the holding of hands and the power that came from that.
The community of women Tembre grew up with had a powerful impression on her. She is now a circle song leader; gathering women to sing, and feels she must have absorbed Embrace the Base as a child. Avryl reads some of her mother Marlene's poems about Greenham which feature in her book of poems and writings. The interview ends with Tembre singing a beautiful rendition of one of her grandma's poems, who she says found her tribe at Greenham.
Avryl and Tembre were interviewed by Vanessa Pini in March 2021.