Explore the The WoManchester Statue Project of this artwork.
The statue was created following a five-year campaign called the WoManchester Statue Project. This was led by Manchester City councillor Andrew Simcock. He had initiated the campaign following a meeting in March 2014 with his friend Anne-Marie Glennon in the Sculpture Hall in Manchester Town Hall. Over coffee she had commented "these (busts) are all men. Where are the women!"Simcock's campaign was also inspired by a craftivism exhibition held at Manchester Town Hall during February and March 2014. Frustrated by the gender imbalance in Manchester's civic statues, Warp & Weft (artist Helen Davies and heritage researcher Jenny White) devised the Stature project, yarnbombing eight male portrait busts with crochet masks depicting local historical women of achievement.Councillor Simcock invited Warp & Weft to restage their exhibition on 30 July 2014, the day Manchester City Council gave its unanimous backing to his resolution that a 'statue of a woman of significance to Manchester' be created.Initially a 20-strong list of women was compiled for consideration for the statue:In June 2015, Simcock cycled from Land's End to John o' Groats in 20 stages, each one devoted to one of the women on the list.A shortlist was created in the autumn of 2015 and Emmeline Pankhurst was decisively selected following a vote by thousands of people across the world.: 60–77 
The unveiling was attended by 6,000 people including many who had marched from the Pankhurst Centre near Manchester Royal Infirmary. It was here, as the then home of the Pankhurst family, that the Women's Social and Political Union had been formed.
The event marked exactly 100 years since the first women voted and stood as candidates in a general election. Two marches started from two symbolic locations – the People's History Museum and the Pankhurst Centre – ending up at St Peter's Square, which was attended by 6,000 people including 1,000 local schoolchildren. In July 2018, the Portland stone Pankhurst Meeting Circle was unveiled, designed to encircle the bronze statue.The statue was funded by corporate sponsors Manchester Airport Group and Property Alliance Group and from the sale of a limited number of bronze maquettes of the statue. A significant donation also came from the Government's Centenary Fund (Centenary Cities).: 60–77
Emmeline Pankhurst Land's End to John o' Groats Manchester Manchester Airport Manchester Airport Group Manchester City Council Manchester Royal Infirmary Manchester Town Hall Pankhurst Centre People's History Museum Women's Social and Political Union