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and ask themselves what is requiring them to be so inflexible in the schedule they set for their employees. In professional organisations, having a strict schedule or a rota is not necessary for delivering a good quality services so what is the reason for maintaining a 9-5 on site working pattern. If it is control, then perhaps the concept of ‘trust’ is eroding and the culture of the organisation really needs to be rebuilt. Please can you tell us about ‘The First 100 Years’ project, including its aims and a summary of progress to date? What are your future goals and where can our readers find further information and keep abreast of developments? The First 100 Years (www.first100years.org.uk) is the campaign that led the celebrations of 100 years of women being allowed to join the legal profession as a result of the passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. I had this idea of creating a go to place where women could discover their history, trace the journey of women in law and discover fantastic role models. I thought the centenary presented us with a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women in law and discussed the challenges remaining in a context that was a more positive one, framed by the profession seeing a surge of women qualifying. I was keen we did not fight battles that have already been won and that we continued to advance women’s careers and aspirations against a background of much historical achievement. Initially we had a few plans – to record the lives and work of leading women pioneers of our generation but then we became much bigger and have produced so many things: a book, podcast, films, touring exhibition, events, conferences, mosaics, photographs and, of course, the first artwork to depict women lawyers to celebrate the centenary now hanging in the UK Supreme Court – Legacy 2019 by Catherine Yass. You can read all about what we achieved in our impact report (https://next100years.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ First100Years_ImpactReport.pdf?mc_cid=5ec95f1f97&mc_ eid=e0d4b37e3a). The campaign continues with its new chapter, Next 100 Years – we will continue to advance and inspire women and the next generations coming through. We have a lecture series giving a platform to great women legal experts to show their brilliant minds (Heilborn Lectures), a new book (In her words) based on our photography days held around the world just before the pandemic onset as well as a new podcast series, Kids Law (www.kidslaw.info) discussing how law affects children as they grow up in a series of interviews hosted by Lucinda Acland and my daughter, Alma-Constance, who suggested we needed to do more to help families navigate the maze that is the law.
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@the female lead “I skied back to the Pole again… to take this photo for all those men who commented ‘Make me a sandwich’ on my TEDx Talk. I made you a sandwich (ham & cheese), now ski 37 days and 600km to the South Pole and you can eat it” – Jade Hameister, Polar Explorer. Rose Matafeo “It’s great to relax in front of the big screen after spending the day looking at the medium sized screen before I retire to bed to look at the small screen until I fall asleep”. On This Day She #otd in 1975, 90% of the women in Iceland took part in a “Women’s Day Off”, taking to the streets to demand equality. Without women, there was no phone service, schools were closed, flights cancelled. A year later, Iceland passed the Gender Equality Act. https://t.co/7Bq6nD0l7K
Is there any advice you can offer women who, as a result of the pandemic, might be struggling to balance childcare / home schooling responsibilities with the demands of a fastpaced legal role? If you have a partner, ensure they pull their weight – delegate chores and ask them to do them. It is more difficult for those without nearby help and the bubble system is very confusing and not always easy to rely on. It’s hard to see the end of the tunnel when the weather is bad and the situation is worsening but thinking of spring, looking for the early signs – the other day I spotted the first snowdrops whilst walking by a church – it is amazing how uplifting this can be. Always remember the small things that can delight and look out for those – they can provide joy and resilience when times are hard. ■
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