A statue in Congleton town centre of inspirational suffragist Elizabeth Wolstenhome Elmy will be unveiled on international women's day in 2022.

The bronze statue unveiling of Mrs Wolstenhome Elmy on 8th March 2022 will be one of only a very few statues in the country of women.

Hazel Reeves, the sculptor behind the Our Emmeline project in Manchester talked about the power of statues during the latest lockdown video with Elizabeth's Group, who are campaigning to highlight the life and work of Mrs Wolstenhome Elmy, who lived in the town from 1874 to 1918.

In the latest broadcast, Elizabeth's Group chair Susan Munro spoke with Ms Reeves about the plans for Congleton's statue of Mrs Wolstenhome Elmy.

Mrs Munro said: "In 2018 when we first heard about Elizabeth and decided to do some fundraising, it was for a small plaque or a noticeboard to go in the town centre that would just tell people that Elizabeth lived here.

"But the more we learned about Elizabeth, the more we began to understand how radical she was; how important she was, the work she did and the difference it has made to the lives of women from that time.

"We thought we'd perhaps get a small statue, and then in May 2018, the first women statue was erected in parliament square. It was Millicent Fawcett, a contemporary of Elizabeth, and around the plinth of the statue is featured photographs of the most influential women of the suffragist movement, and right under her right foot is our Elizabeth.

"When we learned this, we were so excited and realised even more how important she was and that it was being recognised that she was, and we thought if she was being recognised and commemorated in London, she surely needs to be commemorated in London, she surely needs commemorated properly in Congleton, the town where she lived for 54 years."

Mrs Munro stated that Elizabeth's Group then heard about the Our Emmeline campaign in Manchester and the "beautiful statue" that was being made there and contacted Ms Reeves.

Ms Reeves explained that her statues tell the story of the character with something interesting to see "360 degrees in the round" and that sculptors should act as a "catalyst" and "move people".

Mrs Munro responded: "We're working towards getting our statue unveiled on international women's day 8th March 2022. 2022 is a very important year for Congleton, it's the 750th year of the charter so there's going to be a lot of stuff going on all through the year and we're hoping that our statue unveiling will be kicking things off for all the other things that are going ahead.

"We are planning for that day. We're already planning our unveiling. We've got the wonderful Baroness Hale who has agreed to cut the ribbon."

Ms Reeves highlighted the importance of Congleton acquiring a bronze statue: "So few women have been celebrated in bronze and it really is an injustice not to have a statue of Elizabeth in the town she viewed as her own.

"It's really important that we celebrate these lives, but also these statues act as a catalyst, saying to people, women have done incredible things, you as a women, you as a girl can do incredible things.

"Having a role model on the streets for young girls is so important in terms of developing their ambitions and their self-belief.

"It is a matter of justice. It's about challenging gender stereotypes. So, girls can think 'I can be like that'.

"Elizabeth was tiny! She did incredible things – 50 years working for women's suffrage. All the causes she championed and the legislation she brought in was incredible, why haven't we heard her story so far?

"It's about redressing that balance and having something, a statue, that Congleton can to go and celebrate her life and all women's lives and appreciate contributions to society."

Mrs Munro also spoke with Terri Bell-Halliwell, of inVISIBLEwomen.org, which exists as a catalyst for gender equality in UK civic statues so the community can "celebrate the great women of the past in order to inspire great women in the future."

Ms Bell-Halliwell added: "Amongst these Elizabeth Elmy is surely a most worthy candidate, she made a major contribution to equality of representation in the UK and she was described by Emmeline Pankhurst as the brains of the suffragist movement, which was a massive, complex, sophisticated organisation that achieved an unprecedented success, a success that fundamentally benefits the entire nation and all of us to this very day."

In the UK, about 85% of civic statues are of men. The remaining 15% are mostly made up of either Queen Victoria or angels and naked nymphs.

Ms Bell-Halliwell continued: "Only 2.7% of UK statues are of real, named women, with their clothes on, who've been honoured for their achievements. That's 2.7% to represent 50% of the population."

Manchester City Councillor, Andrew Simcock, who led the Our Emmeline Campaign, wants to celebrate the lead up to the centenary of Royal Assent of equal suffrage being granted 2 July 1928, with a Government supported project, which would create 15 new statues of women around the UK over the period of 2020 to 2028.

This would effectively double the number of statues of named individual women in the UK.

Congleton Town councillor, Kay Wesley, a trustee of Elizabeth's Group, stated in the video that people come to Congleton for its history.

Cllr Wesley, of the Women's Equality Party, said: "I think it's really important that we celebrate all the people that have achieved in Congleton, and of course Elizabeth was one of the most important people in Congleton's history.

"There are many parts of the town that she touched, she had an influence and started a school here. I think it's really important that we have this piece of art, which people will come along and look at for its own sake, but then they will start asking questions, who was this woman, what did she do, why was she here in Congleton?

"Elizabeth is a national figure, she had a huge impact on so many parts of women's lives in all sorts of different areas, in politics, healthcare and marital rights, she had a massive influence on the way we live our lives today and if people start seeing this wonderful statue and start asking questions, then they can learn about the contributions she made.

"Having a statue of Elizabeth here in Congleton will inspire people to challenge inequalities that we still see today. Congleton is trying to become a White Ribbon town and stamp out violence against women, we have a number of other areas where we trying to drive more gender equality and improve opportunities for women and girls.

"The presence of Elizabeth will remind us that this fight isn't over, and we need to keep striving for equality."

You can donate to the Elizabeth Wolstenhome Elmy statue fund by contacting the group via their Facebook page.