In praise of …
13th March 2026
Spring hasn’t quite sprung – yet. Some days we can be fooled and then the rain, wind and cold return. Nearly there – honestly. We are in the calendar Spring but meteorological Spring doesn’t start until 21 March – a little time to wait just yet. Hang on in there. It’ll all change soon enough.
Despite the weather-related issues, we can top and tail the last seven with some warmth and some recognition and celebrations.
It was really moving to read the International Women’s Day (celebrated on 8 March) messages shared by some colleagues at TRC just this last week. To take a moment and reflect upon the impact that a number of our female staff members have made and do make daily on the lives of our children, young people and their colleagues was important, timely and heart-warming. Those messages were interspersed with the stories of fabulous female role-models from across the ages. A reminder of what we have, what we’ve had and what we stand to lose, if we don’t recognise and hold true to the society gains, we’ve made over the last century. I fear for those gains. I worry about an erosion of equality. There are too many who use the media and social media to make spurious claims about how much better we were off in the past. A past that had well over 50% of our population bound by different rules, expectations and access to opportunity. Be careful what you wish for. We all have a responsibility to guard against that erosion and the corrosive impact of the acidic tone taken by some (mainly men – but not always).
Despite the dark undertones, International Women’s Day was, and should continue to be, a celebration.
In similar yet simpler terms we can celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday) this coming Sunday. The cynics amongst us might suggest that this is just a day for commercial activity to take place; sitting neatly between St Valentine’s Day, Eid and Easter. But, and I am surprised by this, Mothering Sunday goes way back to the 16th century. It’s not quite 21st century but historically, servants were given the day off on the fourth Sunday of Lent to visit their families and their “mother church” (the parish where they were baptized). It evolved into a family reunion where mothers were honoured.
Mother’s Day, whether our mums are still around or not, can be a day of celebration and reflection. Every one of us will have had some magical moments that only our mum’s have been able to offer. We should all take a moment. We might be able to snaffle one of those chocolates given, or admire the flowers shared. And despite the naming of the day many of us are still likely to have our Sunday meal cooked by mum, mother, mam …
We take International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day as a couple of moments to remind ourselves of what we should remember every day. We value all. To steal from and upend Orwell’s intent, we are all equal but some of us are more equal than others.
‘Women hold up half the sky’. Mao Zedong
‘Women don’t realize how powerful they are’. Judith Light
‘As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot’. John Lennon