Andrew Simcock is a keen cyclist and RSPB member, with an ambition to put Emily Williamson, the RSPB’s founder, on the map in her home city of Manchester.
Main image: Cllr Andrew Simcock in training for his charity cycle ride
Plans are afoot to create a life size statue of Emily Williamson (1855-1936), co-founder of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), to be erected in Fletcher Moss Park, Didsbury, Manchester, the location of Emily’s home. But first the funds need to be raised to create the statue and a national fundraising campaign was launched back in 2020. We’re thrilled that so far the campaign has raised over £20,000.
Emily Williamson
This July, Andrew Simcock is setting out on an epic cycle ride to help raise additional funds for this permanent statue of Emily.
He will be cycling 400 miles and visiting eight RSPB reserves in the six counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincolnshire, beginning Sunday 23 July and finishing Wednesday 2 August.
Aiming to raise £5,000 towards the statue fundraising goal of £100,000, with half of the £5,000 funds raised to be shared among the RSPB reserves, Andrew has set himself quite the challenge.
Andrew, a Manchester based councillor, and Sussex based journalist and social historian, Tessa Boase first met at the unveiling of a crowd-funded plaque dedicated to Emily Williamson.
In December 2020 a competition was then launched to design a statue of Emily and the four shortlisted designs were unveiled on the centenary of The Plumage Act (1 July 2021), the RSPB’s first legislation triumph and the result of Emily’s long campaign.
Eve Shepherd, Sculptor, with a bronze maquette of her winning design. Image credit: Mark Waugh
Eve Shepherd was announced as the winner of the Emily Williamson Statue Competition in November 2021 at Manchester Art Gallery. We believe her statue will be an inspiring monument not just to Emily, but to the beauty and vulnerability of birdlife.
Eve said, “A quiet, yet stoic woman, Emily Williamson stood against the norms of her day. She was forgotten by history because of her gender. This statue will both be a triumph and a milestone on the journey towards fair representation of women within public sculpture – though we still have some distance to go! I am delighted and excited to have been selected to be a part of this.”
Andrew will be arriving at each reserve between 10.30am and 11 each morning where a bronze maquette (approx. 40 cm in height) of the winning design for the Emily Williamson statue will be on display between 10.30/11am and 12 noon for visitors to see.
There’s a limited edition of 20 bronze maquettes available for purchase:
Outline of the RSPB Eastern 400 Cycle Route:
Sunday 23rd July – RSPB HQ, Sandy, Bedfordshire – 11- 12 noon
Monday 24 July – RSPB RSPB Rye Meads, Hertfordshire – 11 – 12 noon
Tuesday 25 July – South Essex Wildlife Garden and Visitor Centre, Essex, at Wat Tyler Country Park – 11 – 12 noon
Friday 28 July – RSPB Minsmere, Suffolk – 11 – 12 noon
Saturday 29 July – RSPB Lakenheath Fen, Suffolk – 11- 12 noon
Monday 31 July – RSPB Stumpshaw Fen, Norfolk – 11- 12 noon
Tuesday 1 August – RSPB Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk – 11 – 12 noon
Wednesday 2 August – RSPB Frampton Marsh, Lincolnshire – 11 – 12 noon
Andrew Simcock
Andrew, who in 2018 successfully campaigned for a statue to Emmeline Pankhurst for Manchester city centre, said,
“This statue will be another milestone in recognising important women from our history through public sculpture. It will be an ever-lasting legacy to a nature pioneer and celebrate Manchester once again as a place of progression, inclusivity, and ground-breaking ideas. The cycle ride will be a huge personal challenge too, but I hope I’ll be spurred on by the great British public along the route.”
“We intend to put Emily Williamson’s name back on the map by making her garden a place of pilgrimage for RSPB members, budding environmental activists, eco feminists and young people in search of inspiring role models.”
To find about more about Emily Williamson statue campaign visit here:
www.emilywilliamsonstatue.com
To donate to the statue campaign and Andrew’s cycle challenge visit:
www.justgiving.com/page/andrewsimcockrspbeastern400
For more information and to buy a limited-edition bronze maquette of Emily’s statue, email:
andrew4didsbury@googlemail.com
Follow @emilystatue to keep up to date on the latest news and let us know if you see Andrew on his cycle ride, using the hashtags,
#RSPBEmilyWilliamson, #womeninhistory, #RSPBEastern400
The link to the South Essex Wildlife Garden is coming up with Rye Meads. Thought you should know.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.