Launch of Brighton’s Women’s History Group

Brighton Women’s History Group

This is the launch event of Brighton & Hove’s Women’s History Group.

Our first public event will be a talk on Grace Eyre Woodhead by Jackie Reeve of the Grace Eyre Foundation.

Grace Eyre Woodhead (1864-1936) was a remarkable woman who pioneered support to people with learning disabilities in the late 19^th/early 20^th centuries in Brighton and Hove.

In the 1880s she visited London asylums and mental hospitals and was horrified at the conditions in which children with learning disabilities were cared for in these institutions. In 1898 she organised a group of local Brighton & Hove volunteers to organise holidays for under-privileged children and children with learning disabilities, and by 1900 she had established a headquarters in Brighton and was pioneering a model of social care known as community-based ‘guardianship.’  In 1913 ‘The Guardianship Society’ charity was legally formed and Grace continued to support and drive it forward until her death in 1936.  The Society name was changed in 1988 to the Grace Eyre Foundation in honour of its founder, and now in its 102^nd year the charity continues Grace’s innovative approach, offering a diverse range of services to support people with learning disabilities and/or mental health needs across Sussex.

Come and find out about the life of this remarkable woman.

Refreshments available.