About Cheshire Voices for Equality

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We are a passionate group of activists from Sandbach, a rural town in the UK who are advocating for Cheshire to be a positive and safe place for all marginalised groups to live. We are a student-led unincorporated association and we strongly believe that you do not need special skills or experience to be an activist. The ocean of anti-racism activism is immense – we fit into a particular stream and want to work as hard as we can here.


Our aim

We aim to bring social justice issues to the forefront of discussions in rural spaces where they're not usually talked about. We grew up existing within spaces where social justice issues were not discussed and when they were, people often held harmful views about marginalised groups. We want to inspire people to take the onus into their hands and always try to learn more about marginalised groups and how to best support them. Overall, we aim to help people empower others to speak out against racism and injustice against marginalised groups.


The people behind Cheshire Voices for Equality

The organisers - we have each shared a personal message below, about ourselves and how we got here.

The community - 900+ community members have come together in solidarity over the last 12 months. Hear from some of these influential voices in the community below.


Do you feel like Introducing yourself?

To our fellow community members, we invite you to also tell us a little bit about yourself and your passion for this movement by adding a story below. We'd love to hear from you here.

We are a passionate group of activists from Sandbach, a rural town in the UK who are advocating for Cheshire to be a positive and safe place for all marginalised groups to live. We are a student-led unincorporated association and we strongly believe that you do not need special skills or experience to be an activist. The ocean of anti-racism activism is immense – we fit into a particular stream and want to work as hard as we can here.


Our aim

We aim to bring social justice issues to the forefront of discussions in rural spaces where they're not usually talked about. We grew up existing within spaces where social justice issues were not discussed and when they were, people often held harmful views about marginalised groups. We want to inspire people to take the onus into their hands and always try to learn more about marginalised groups and how to best support them. Overall, we aim to help people empower others to speak out against racism and injustice against marginalised groups.


The people behind Cheshire Voices for Equality

The organisers - we have each shared a personal message below, about ourselves and how we got here.

The community - 900+ community members have come together in solidarity over the last 12 months. Hear from some of these influential voices in the community below.


Do you feel like Introducing yourself?

To our fellow community members, we invite you to also tell us a little bit about yourself and your passion for this movement by adding a story below. We'd love to hear from you here.

Meet the community

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  • Share Please consider completing our survey - we would like it to be more representative of the community in order to meet everyone's need on Facebook Share Please consider completing our survey - we would like it to be more representative of the community in order to meet everyone's need on Twitter Share Please consider completing our survey - we would like it to be more representative of the community in order to meet everyone's need on Linkedin Email Please consider completing our survey - we would like it to be more representative of the community in order to meet everyone's need link

    Please consider completing our survey - we would like it to be more representative of the community in order to meet everyone's need

    by Alison, about 3 years ago

    I am writing to introduce myself (again), Rebecca Fish and Ruth Malkin.


    Thank you to those who got in contact about our interviews - we would now like to ask disabled people, and those with long-term cnditions if they would consider taking part in out study.

    We are three researchers who are working with Disability Positive, to find out how disabled people have been supported in the pandemic. We want to ensure that we reach, and hear back from, as many people as possible, not just those who are more visible to Disability Positive or those who use their services.

    ... Continue reading

    I am writing to introduce myself (again), Rebecca Fish and Ruth Malkin.


    Thank you to those who got in contact about our interviews - we would now like to ask disabled people, and those with long-term cnditions if they would consider taking part in out study.

    We are three researchers who are working with Disability Positive, to find out how disabled people have been supported in the pandemic. We want to ensure that we reach, and hear back from, as many people as possible, not just those who are more visible to Disability Positive or those who use their services.

    THE SURVEY

    Are you disabled? If so, we would really like to hear your views. You can also be entered into a prize draw if you take part. We are inviting you to complete our survey. Your identity will not be revealed to anyone apart from the team, at any stage.We want to know things like: What has life been like for you since the pandemic started? Have you used a support or advocacy service? Would you like to use a support or advocacy service? What are your hopes for the future? What worries you? How can you say what you want and know more about your rights? We want to use this information to make services even better in future. If you have lived experience of disability or a long-term condition, please consider taking part. If you have further questions, please contact us: a.wilde@leedstrinity.ac.uk.

    Here is the long survey link if you would like to be involved: https://uclan.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0oliHgYYvgsU5Cu

    Thank you for your consideration

    Dr Alison Wilde FRSA

  • Share Hi everyone - I have a request on Facebook Share Hi everyone - I have a request on Twitter Share Hi everyone - I have a request on Linkedin Email Hi everyone - I have a request link

    Hi everyone - I have a request

    by Alison, over 3 years ago

    Thank you for allowing me to register. I fully support all the work you are doing, and I hope I can support you in the future. As a fellow activist for social justice I hope that you don't mind the following request.

    I am writing to introduce myself and Rebecca Fish.

    We are two researchers who are working with Disability Positive, to find out how disabled people have been supported in the pandemic. We want to ensure that we reach, and hear back from, as many people as possible, not just those who are more visible to Disability Positive or... Continue reading

    Thank you for allowing me to register. I fully support all the work you are doing, and I hope I can support you in the future. As a fellow activist for social justice I hope that you don't mind the following request.

    I am writing to introduce myself and Rebecca Fish.

    We are two researchers who are working with Disability Positive, to find out how disabled people have been supported in the pandemic. We want to ensure that we reach, and hear back from, as many people as possible, not just those who are more visible to Disability Positive or those who use their services. It is probable that many disabled people, including those who seek information from you, choose to use support which is closer to the community they identify with most. We are therefore writing to you as an organisation where we might be able to reach those disabled people who reach out to you for support or information, even if it is just to check what you do online.

    We would appreciate it if you would let us share our message with your beneficiaries. The message is below our signatures

    Please let us know if you need more information.

    Best wishes

    Alison and Rebecca

    The Message

    Are you disabled? If so, we would really like to hear your views, and will pay you a voucher of £30 for taking part in an interview.

    Could you talk to our researchers in confidence? We want to know things like:

    What has life been like for you since the pandemic started? Have you used an advocacy service? Would you like to use an advocacy service? What are your hopes for the future? What worries you? How can you say what you want and know more about your rights?

    We want to use this information to make our Advocacy service even better in future. Advocacy is help with saying what you want and understanding your rights. A person who helps you to do this is called an advocate.

    If you have lived experience of disability or a long term condition and would like to take part please contact us:

    Email: communications@disabilitypositive.org

    Phone: 01606 331 853.

    If you take part you will speak to an independent researcher and what you say will be confidential. This means that the researcher does not work for Disability Positive and will not share what you say with other people.

  • Share I'm Sophie - a white gal on a mission to ally and support on Facebook Share I'm Sophie - a white gal on a mission to ally and support on Twitter Share I'm Sophie - a white gal on a mission to ally and support on Linkedin Email I'm Sophie - a white gal on a mission to ally and support link

    I'm Sophie - a white gal on a mission to ally and support

    by Sophie Bratt, almost 5 years ago


    Hi everyone! I'm Sophie, I live in Manchester and I work in Advertising as a Project Manager. I've been on a short journey with racism over the last two years - mainly on a mission to re-educate myself to the issues. It started with reading Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race in 2019, and waking up to the issues that have clearly plagued my black and brown friends their whole lives. It's been uncomfortable, I've even lost a couple of 'friends' in the process, but I'm feeling now more than ever that I want to put... Continue reading


    Hi everyone! I'm Sophie, I live in Manchester and I work in Advertising as a Project Manager. I've been on a short journey with racism over the last two years - mainly on a mission to re-educate myself to the issues. It started with reading Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race in 2019, and waking up to the issues that have clearly plagued my black and brown friends their whole lives. It's been uncomfortable, I've even lost a couple of 'friends' in the process, but I'm feeling now more than ever that I want to put my money where my mouth is and ally, support and advocate as much as possible, starting with signing up and participating in this community.

    I am a close friend of Cheshire Voices founder, Keelie (it's her and I in the picture!) as we met when we were 11 years old at school. The work she's doing in this space alongside Katie and Mia is amazing and I am proud to say I'm now onboard to support too.

    I also love reading and watching documentaries. They have helped me learn so much about racism and inequalities, so I have left my top recommends so far below and welcome any others so please do share!

    My recommendations

    • (book) The Space Between Black and White - Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith
    • (book) Becoming - Michelle Obama
    • (book) Untamed - Glennon Doyle
    • (book) Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race - Reni Eddo-Lodge
    • (book) Another Country - James Baldwin
    • (doco) any of James Baldwin's speeches on YouTube
    • (doco) 13th - Netflix
    • (doco-drama) When They See Us - Netflix

    Looking forward to getting involved, thanks for being so welcoming!

  • Share I'm Lucy (aka The Mermaid) on Facebook Share I'm Lucy (aka The Mermaid) on Twitter Share I'm Lucy (aka The Mermaid) on Linkedin Email I'm Lucy (aka The Mermaid) link

    I'm Lucy (aka The Mermaid)

    by Lucy Ariel, about 5 years ago

    Hello everyone, I'm Lucy. I am also known as a mermaid!

    I am proud to stand with members of BLM Sandbach/ CVEA in striving to achieve equality and diversity on every platform.

    Through BLM Sandbach, I created a sub-group on Facebook to support members' mental health and welbeing called Mental Health Matters, which is constantly growing and achieving positive results in the local community and beyond.

    We have various initiatives, including a mentor scheme for more personalised support, a weekly wellbeing treat box draw, and various ways to connect, especially in these times like - a weekly virtual coffee morning... Continue reading

    Hello everyone, I'm Lucy. I am also known as a mermaid!

    I am proud to stand with members of BLM Sandbach/ CVEA in striving to achieve equality and diversity on every platform.

    Through BLM Sandbach, I created a sub-group on Facebook to support members' mental health and welbeing called Mental Health Matters, which is constantly growing and achieving positive results in the local community and beyond.

    We have various initiatives, including a mentor scheme for more personalised support, a weekly wellbeing treat box draw, and various ways to connect, especially in these times like - a weekly virtual coffee morning, a collective playlist and a radio show 'The Feel Good Factor'. I was blown away to receive a Covid Community Hero Award for the work which was a very proud moment.

    I will always be working hard to protect people's mental health and that includes challenging stigma and discrimination when I see it.

    I am also active in the local foodbank collection and distribution scheme and continue to campaign for progress.

    I love all things creative. I am a Mental Health Lead in a Creative College and I am a born performer - so love gigs, festivals, shows.

    And of course - swimming!


  • Share I'm Nancy - Advocate and Ally from across the pond! on Facebook Share I'm Nancy - Advocate and Ally from across the pond! on Twitter Share I'm Nancy - Advocate and Ally from across the pond! on Linkedin Email I'm Nancy - Advocate and Ally from across the pond! link

    I'm Nancy - Advocate and Ally from across the pond!

    by Nancy73, about 5 years ago

    What on earth am I doing being involved in the Cheshire Voices/BLM/CVEA/LGBTQ Sandbach Community when I live 3,500 miles away just outside Washington D.C.?! Well, I grew up in Sandbach, went to the girls school, and made many of my lifelong connections in the beautiful market town. With many friends and family still in Sandbach, the greater Cheshire, Manchester, Lancashire, and Yorkshire areas, equity and inclusion mean as much to me in my old hometown as they do in my new hometown - I say new, it has been 25 years since I moved stateside!!

    I have been married to... Continue reading

    What on earth am I doing being involved in the Cheshire Voices/BLM/CVEA/LGBTQ Sandbach Community when I live 3,500 miles away just outside Washington D.C.?! Well, I grew up in Sandbach, went to the girls school, and made many of my lifelong connections in the beautiful market town. With many friends and family still in Sandbach, the greater Cheshire, Manchester, Lancashire, and Yorkshire areas, equity and inclusion mean as much to me in my old hometown as they do in my new hometown - I say new, it has been 25 years since I moved stateside!!

    I have been married to an amazing Black American for almost 21 years and whilst we have experienced some racism as an interracial couple, it pales into comparison with the experiences he has endured throughout his life. I can never understand his experiences but I have made it my lifelong goal to educate myself on being anti-racist, equitable, and inclusive - and to use my education and position of privilege as a white woman to advocate for change.

    I look forward to connecting with many likeminded Cheshire Voices and hopefully meeting many of you when we next visit the UK.

    Stay well, stay healthy, and keep on fighting xo

  • Share I’m Mark (aka activist Dad) on Facebook Share I’m Mark (aka activist Dad) on Twitter Share I’m Mark (aka activist Dad) on Linkedin Email I’m Mark (aka activist Dad) link

    I’m Mark (aka activist Dad)

    about 5 years ago

    I’m Mark (aka activist Dad) and have been involved in supporting the BLM Sandbach / CVEA since the second protest in 2020 and am proud to be an ally of all of our members.

    I’m a keen walker and camper - and spend as much time outdoors with my children as I can. I am involved in a number of local volunteering and community action / support efforts, including litter picking, feeding local homeless (direct action) supporting local causes, helping to drive inclusivity in local politics, and of course championing inclusivity and diversity in Cheshire and beyond, while doing what... Continue reading

    I’m Mark (aka activist Dad) and have been involved in supporting the BLM Sandbach / CVEA since the second protest in 2020 and am proud to be an ally of all of our members.

    I’m a keen walker and camper - and spend as much time outdoors with my children as I can. I am involved in a number of local volunteering and community action / support efforts, including litter picking, feeding local homeless (direct action) supporting local causes, helping to drive inclusivity in local politics, and of course championing inclusivity and diversity in Cheshire and beyond, while doing what I can in the fight against all forms of bigotry, racism and misogyny.

Page last updated: 15 Feb 2023, 11:54 AM