You may have received a very special email this week - your books are being dispatched. We did it! 

Weekend before last I signed 250 books which will be making their way to some of you. I wrote in every one, “We did it!” I meant it - you are a huge part of making this happen. And writing those words made me feel proud every time. 

We’ve come a very long way since our first podcast in 2018. We’ve broadcast 100 different women’s stories on 100voicesfor100years.com, we found a publisher, we raised our funding – thanks to you – and we have created a book that is an astoundingly good read. I’m really proud. I would never have thought I could do it, but by taking it in steps, by giving myself a new challenge, I managed to get much further than I imagined. Yet I know its true to say “We did it”, because without all of you, I wouldn’t have given myself the permission to do the things I wanted. Sometimes we need other people to help us achieve, and I am honoured that when I asked, you all answered.

The news is once again bleak. But it is still important to mark these achievements. They feed each other. Your achievements boost mine, they grow like flowers. 

Each time a person speaks up and uses their voice we understand a bit more, we are all strengthened. We have hope. 

And as Deborah Frances-White writes in our foreword, though sometimes your voice feels like a drop in the ocean. “…a hundred drops can make a wave”. 

On Thursday please join us in celebrating online, tag us, talk to us and forgive me if I am just a little too overexcited with the emojis. If you’re in West Yorkshire (where I now live) we’re doing an event at the Book corner in Halifax on Wednesday 9 March at 6.30pm and an event at The Pink Room in Leeds on Thursday 10 March at 6.30pm. Please do come along if you’re near (details in the links). 

I can’t wait to see all of your pictures of you and your books!! 

And as we say in our dedication, 

To all those who have struggled to be heard, we lend you our voices.