Celebrating International Women’s Day 2026

The 8^th of March each year is recognised as International Women’s Day (IWD). It’s an annual day of celebration and activism emphasising gender equality and amplifying women’s voices. It serves as an important reminder that locally, nationally and internationally, gender equality is still a struggle.

Trustees Emily & Nicole (cheekily) keeping up to date on the Liverpool score whilst running LonGBoaT Wakefield's Merch Stall at the Pink Picnic 2025

Each IWD has a different theme. For 2026 the theme is ‘Give to Gain’, with the campaign aiming to encourage generosity and collaboration to help women thrive.

On their website they’ve given many examples about how giving can support women. Here are just a few that may resonate with our community in Wakefield:

• Give respect

• Give visibility

• Give a voice

• Give safety

• Give justice

• Give credit

• Give time

  
  

When we think of the word ‘giving’ our minds often flip straight to the idea of giving money, but that’s not the only way of making a difference. Sometimes advocacy and support can make a tangible difference for one woman. Sometimes giving time and a listening ear can give a woman the opportunity to grow and pass those opportunities along to other women.

Give to Gain at LonGBoaT Wakefield

This year’s IWD theme is incredibly relevant to our work at LonGBoaT Wakefield.

Plenty of what we do to support women within our community involves giving in one form or another such as:

• The weekly Queer Social that offers a relaxed, alcohol-free environment for people to socialise

• A weekly quiz held at The New Union

• Saturday coffee morning at the LonGBoaT Hub

• Sessions for parents of LGBT+ children and children of LGBT+ parents

  
  

Volunteers from the Groundwork Yorkshire Horticulture session planting bulbs at Wakefield Kirkgate.

All this – and everything else we do – relies on volunteers giving their time to support others. It’s often said that time is one of the most valuable commodities available, so it’s wonderful to see volunteers showing up week after week to offer their time to LonGBoaT activities.

So, on this International Women’s Day we’d like to celebrate the women who make LonGBoaT Wakefield tick and reaffirm our commitment to promoting gender equality throughout all our work.