Come and join us as we commemorate the 135th anniversary of the Bow Matchgirls’ strike with a special ceremony in Grove Hall Park from 2pm.

With the support of the Matchgirls Memorial and Tower Hamlets Council, some information boards explaining the strike of the female workers at the Bryant and May match factory will be unveiled in Grove Hall Park by the playground at 2pm.

There’ll be a few short speeches and then we plan to celebrate with a picnic, so bring something nice to enjoy and relax in the sun (hopefully).

Everyone’s welcome to attend. You can find out more about the Matchgirls’ Strike on the Matchgirls Memorial website.

And there’s more!

Later that evening there’s an evening of storytelling and music, telling the story of the 1888 strike in the Great Hall of People’s Palace, Queen Mary University of London E1 4NS from 7pm.

Striking Sparks: The Story of the Matchgirls includes the premiere of A Fair Field by Jonathan Pease, and brings together musicians from four community groups, Queen Mary University and local schools to perform this brand new piece telling the story of the strike. You can book tickets through Eventbrite at this link.