Lord Cashman at Bancroft’s
Pupils, staff and parents joined with visitors from Woodbridge School to listen to Lord Michael Cashman speak on 9 May 2016. Lord Cashman delivered his seminal and thought provoking lecture, “Imagine You are the Stranger” defending the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People.
Sixth Former Jess Avery had invited the former actor, human rights activist, and member of the European Parliament to speak at the inaugural event of Bancroft’s new Equality Society. “Mrs Channer told me what an inspiration speaker Michael Cashman is and I thought it worth inviting him to speak. He was one of the founders of Stonewall in 1989, so I think he understands the issues involved in setting up any kind of new group. Not only did he prove a wonderful speaker but he was very encouraging about what we would like to achieve in promoting gender equality. It was great to have some from Woodbridge School at the talk. They have an active and established Equality Society and I hope we can work with them in the future.”
Lord Cashman said, “I was delighted to support Jess, she has shown real initiative, and a brilliant commitment to turning the grains of sand in the desert into which we are often born. It will be a long haul, but often the start of the journey is the most difficult part.”
undoubtedly one of the most illuminating talks we’ll hear this year.
Chris Butler, Assistant Head (Co-curricular)
Lord Cashman spoke about his experiences of prejudice when he first came into the public eye playing the first mainstream gay man on British TV in Eastenders and his subsequent experiences in establishing the charity group Stonewall in response to the struggle against Section 28 of the Local Government Act. During his speech he described how, since his election in as Member of the European Parliament he has pursued the cause of equality both for citizens of the twenty seven countries of the EU as well as for citizens of countries in all other parts of the world.
