Or check the branch list to find your nearest branch. 

Can't find a branch in your area, or want to get a paused branch active?

Talk to us about becoming a branchstarter

Without the people, it would have been a whole bunch of hammers, with no carpenters, wishing for a house. - Marshall Ganz 

Why volunteer?

This party was built by volunteers and like our members and supporters, WE can’t do it without them. Do you believe gender equality is better for everyone and want to play a vital role in our movement? Become a carpenter and shape the future, because together we can make a change and build a better UK where equality comes first.

The world looks a bit different since we started, and our volunteering opportunities look a bit different now too. As of 2020 all of our volunteering roles can be done remotely, from the comfort of your own home. 

WE believe everybody should have the chance to participate and whilst we welcome specific skills and experience, what really matters to us is passion, enthusiasm and shared values. If you feel you can contribute as a volunteer, WE would love to hear from you! 

*This application form is only for roles at our central office in London, for volunteers roles within your area please contact your local branch, find your branch here.*

Dear Sadiq Khan,

Women are exhausted, we are heartbroken, we are afraid. Over the last week women across the UK have been united in their sorrow and rage over the disappearance of Sarah Everard, and the fact that a Metropolitian Police Officer has now been charged for her kidnapping and murder.

This weekend women shared their stories of the lengths they have to go to try to feel safe in our city. Holding keys like knuckle dusters, avoiding going out at night, hiding disabilities, pretending to talk on the phone, walking down the train until they find a carriage with another woman. One woman described pulling strands of her hair out in a taxi to leave DNA evidence in case anything happened.

Enough is enough. You have the power to change this. 

• The Met cannot be trusted to investigate their own officer, especially when they are being investigated for their handling of an earlier indecent exposure allegation. As Police and Crime Commissioner for London, you must ensure the investigation into Sarah’s death is passed to a neighbouring police force.
• Invest in a specialist police squad to tackle gender based violence in London and restore women’s trust in the criminal justice system. Hold the Met to account for improving charging rates.
• Make ending violence against women and girls your top priority. Set and publish targets for crime reduction and appoint a Deputy Mayor to take the lead. 
• Guarantee sustainable funding for specialist violence against women and girls services based on need, so that no woman is ever turned away from safe refuge in our city. This must include migrant women.

Violence against women and girls is not inevitable. You, as Mayor, as London’s Police and Crime Commissioner, have a choice about whether and how to respond to the realities women and girls in our city are facing. For far too long our very real fears have been minimised and ignored by politicians. But enough is enough.

Yours sincerely,

Mandu Reid

Leader of the Women’s Equality Party

Join our GLA Election volunteer team today!

WE are proud to be standing in the 2021 GLA elections for Mayor of London and on the London-wide list for the London Assembly. You can help us win our first seat on the London Assembly. 

If you can give just a few hours, you can make a huge difference to our campaign. 

This election is a huge opportunity for us to win a seat on the body that holds one of the most powerful politicians in the country to account - the Mayor of London.

There are so many great ways to get involved with our GLA election campaign. Tick any boxes you'd like to volunteer for. With your help, we can reach voters throughout London and win our first seat on the GLA!

Dear Sadiq Khan,

Despite the fact that streets are emptier and many public spaces are closed, street harassment is still a serious problem. I am calling on you as Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner of London to ensure that women and girls can enjoy their daily exercise and move around our great city free from the fear or threat of violence or abuse.

One in five women and girls in the UK experienced street harassment during lockdown. This figure is far worse in London; more than half of women surveyed by Catcalls of London said street harassment got worse during the lockdowns, and 62% feared for their safety. Our branch in Lambeth conducted their own survey, and found that the most common forms of street harassment were catcalling, wolf whistling or unwanted comments, followed by unwanted physical contact, being followed, or sexual gestures. Respondents also said photos had been taken of them without consent, and perpetrators had even masturbated in front of them. 

London remains the worst city in the UK for street harassment and harassment on public transport. In 2016, ActionAid found that nationally, 36% of women feel at risk of harassment from public transport, but that rises to 51% for women living in London. Four years later those numbers have not changed; more than half of women experienced sexual harassment whilst using public transport in 2020, but only 2% felt able to report it. 

On International Women’s Day last year, you called for misogyny to be made a hate crime. Yet women are in the same position as they were in when you first became Mayor. We cannot simply wait for Central Government to change the law, and it is within your power to do something about this. Moving more Londoners to walking and cycling is a vital part of fighting Covid and making our city greener, but you cannot ask more women to use our streets without doing anything to ensure  they feel safe to do so. 

I am calling on you as a ‘Proud Feminist’ to fulfil your promise to make London a beacon of freedom and equality for women and girls, by developing a London-wide strategy to end street harassment and abuse on the transport network, including a public education campaign. I stand ready to work with you to make our streets and transport network safe for all women and girls. 

Yours sincerely,

Mandu Reid, Leader of the Women’s Equality Party and candidate for Mayor of London

Dear Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP,

Re: Parents and Early Years workers are at breaking point

We are writing as parents, Early Years workers, and organisations and individuals committed to progress - and we do so to sound the alarm. Parents and Early Years providers are at breaking point, and unless the government acts now women’s unemployment will continue to soar - deepening and lengthening the economic crisis for everyone. This will affect mothers on the lowest incomes most acutely, who are nine times more likely to lose their jobs as a result of the latest school closures and lockdown.

The Prime Minister announced recently that Early Years settings should remain open to everyone, but that is simply not possible without urgent support. Already many Early Years settings have closed their doors, either temporarily or permanently, because of funding cuts, lack of testing and staff shortages. Together with school closures, that means parents - especially single parents and mothers - are in the impossible position of trying to juggle work, childcare and homeschooling. Since March last year parents have been asked to homeschool their children for 110 working days. The result is that women are more likely to quit their jobs or be made redundant, and children are being left behind.

Data from your department suggests that attendance at Early Years settings has almost halved as parents have been told to stay home, and Ofsted has reported that a third of nurseries fear they will permanently close due to the impacts of COVID-19. On top of that, the TUC reported last week that 71% of working mothers have been denied their request to be furloughed. Unless you act now, the Early Years sector will completely collapse and more and more women will lose their jobs.

Will you commit to five measures to keep childcare and parents afloat and help stop the spread of the virus?

• • A legal right to shared furlough or guaranteed Self-Employment Income Support for all parents. Currently, parents only have the right to request furloughing and 75% have been refused.
  • Early Years and school staff to be prioritised in the next round of vaccines so that they can reopen safely as soon as possible.
  • Increase child benefits to £50 per child and maintain the £20-a-week uplift in universal credit. With children at home, household bills are mounting and forcing families into poverty.
  • Ten days extra paid annual leave for all parents and 20 days for single parents to help them manage caring responsibilities without the risk of redundancy.
  • A bailout for nurseries to stop them closing permanently.

People want to do whatever it takes to keep our communities safe, but they are being pushed to breaking point. Together, these five measures will help reduce the risk of transmission, give our essential workers the support they need and deserve, and protect families so that they have jobs and childcare to return to when it is safe to do so. That is something we can all support and we ask that you do too.

Signed,

Mandu Reid
Leader of the Women’s Equality Party

* WE are homeschooling the Government on the realities of childcare. Join in here.

Add your signature now

Feministmas Comedy Fundraiser - Line-Up
** TICKETS CLOSED **
If you have not received your ticket link, please email [email protected]

When?

Friday 11th December

What time?

9:00pm - 10:30pm

Where?

Online (via Zoom)

Who?

The Women’s Equality Party 2020 Conference...

...is going virtual!

 Thursday 15th - Sunday 18th October 2020

** SOLD OUT **

Join us online for our most innovative and accessible conference to date.

We will be calling on members, supporters and speakers to Build Back Equal after the pandemic. 

It's time to rewrite the present.

Due to these unprecedented times, hosting the Conference online allows us to safely share a space together, enabling us to meet speakers and other members from around the country whilst minimising health risks, vastly reducing CO2 emissions and saving on travel costs.

Our Conference will bring together some of the brightest minds and most engaging speakers tackling subjects including: social care, child care, economics, violence against women and girls, housing and public spaces, and the environment.

You can join from your living room!

With an interactive schedule packed full of individual talks, panels and workshops, attendees are invited to dip in and out of the Conference at their own pace. It doesn’t stop there - we’re also hosting a Comedy Night with lots more entertainment for attendees!

The Conference will be simple to access via Zoom and we will publish guidance on how to use this technology with ease.

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What can you do at Conference?

Check out the full programme

Thursday

Starting at 8am, you'll have the opportunity to visit workshops, panels, virtual cafes and more throughout the day. The first day of conference will end with cocktail making at 6pm, and Open Mic from 9 - 10pm.

Friday

From 8am, to 9pm, Friday will have a mix of sessions for you to make the most of. We've made sure there's plenty of breaks in between, so you can take a pause from your screen, whilst still attending Friday's panels, screenings, cookery workshops and more.

Saturday

Start your weekend right, with yoga at 7:30am. Saturday's exciting mix of interactive sessions will be highlighted by the Leader's Speech at 10am, party business at 1:30pm, our headliner Laura Bates at 5:00pm AND the Comedy Night Fundraiser at 9pm - don't miss out!

Sunday

The day will begin at 8am, and will be rounded off at 9pm. We've scheduled even more energising workshops and motivating speakers, including two more party business sessions, at 9:30am and 3:30pm. You won't want to miss Campaigns Coven at 12pm.

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Whether you’re a long term party member or a first time activist...

This is your open invitation to our 2020 Conference!  

For Conference updates, sign up to our mailing list here. 

WE are joining forces with Build Back Better to demand a care-led recovery

Build Back Better Statement

As we emerge from this crisis, now is the time to Build Back Better.

To do so we must heed the lessons it has taught:

That as a society, for many years, we did not listen to the scientists about the risks of such a pandemic and were not prepared.

That for decades our health and social care systems were both dangerously under-resourced and in need of reform.

That many key workers in our economy - many of them women, and many not born in this country - are among the least valued and lowest-paid.

That longstanding inequalities in our society have left too many vulnerable.

And that no country can stand alone in the face of common threats.

Yet we can also draw on new sources of hope:

That when faced with a crisis, government can spend wisely, at speed and at scale.

That care, neighbourliness and mutual support are the threads that bind our communities together.

That clean air and a concern for wellbeing can inspire more sustainable and enjoyable ways of living.

And that by working with other countries we can find common solutions to the gravest problems.

Some have compared this crisis to the Second World War. Then, as now, it was widely agreed that there was no going back.

But #BuildBackBetter must be more than just a slogan. We must answer these profound questions:

• How to ensure health, social care, housing and other vital public services are properly resourced and able to meet our future needs.
• How to mend the inequalities in our society so that everyone, no matter their background or race, can live a decent, fulfilling life.
• How to create secure, well-paid and rewarding jobs for all who want them, particularly for young people.
• And how not just to build our resilience to future pandemics, but to tackle the climate and environmental emergency already upon us.

Many will have other questions too: like how to create a better democracy, to harness technology for public good, to build a fairer and more cooperative world.

Answering these questions, and more, is a challenge to us all; to political parties, businesses, trade unions, civil society and citizens.

But it is a challenge to which, together, we can rise.

With the best of human values, and the determination of politicians and citizens, we can emerge from this crisis a stronger, fairer, greener country.

We must #BuildBackBetter.

Sign up to get involved >>