Karen has now been involved in lots of different things but I'm sure has
many hats but this is one of the hats that she's wearing which is around
Unlock the Gate. So I wonder if you could tell us a little bit more about this.
Definitely I'm helping with marketing it's a new campaign by Lewis FC and you
may all know you probably do know if you're in Lewis because it even made the
national press. Lewis started Equality FC earlier this year and this was
because unbelievably for some of us the women's team, no women's football team
got paid the same as the men's team anywhere as far as we know in the world
prior to Lewis. Oh it's the world, I thought it was just the UK. It's the
world. Wow. Introducing pay parity and conditions parity between the women's
and men's teams. Actually Norway's national team has followed sweet. Yeah.
Norway's followed Lewis's example. Fantastic. And it actually is now paying
their women the same as the men but basically they do the same training, they
have the same amount of work they put in. Absolutely. They all have full-time
jobs as well as the football that they're playing. So the question is why
shouldn't they be paid the same and have the same conditions to work in?
Obviously we've come up against a challenge, a criticism to the Equality
FC campaign which is the reason that they shouldn't get the same pay is that
they don't attract the same crowds to the matches so we can't get the same
financial sponsorship. That's crazy. I get it. I understand. Obviously there's a market
yet. It just seems absolutely crazy that we're basing it on those things. Okay
but I've said that. You might be aware that next year is actually a hundred
years since women got the vote, this representation of the People's Act. So to tie
in with this we're launching this campaign called Unlock the Gate and we're
hoping to get many more women in particular but anyone, you could be a man
if you like. We've even said the dogs can come now actually, real dogs, but anyway
we're asking to the audience. We're asking more people to come and up the
figures for the spectators at women's matches, particularly women and women's
groups in solidarity with this great cause that Lewis is pioneering for not
just women's football but really women in general, women in sport and just
generally in the kind of culture that we live in where you know lately we've had
all this in the news about Weinstein. It's become really apparent that
sexism is rife and quite often I don't know about YouTube but I feel quite
powerless, like what can I do about this? There's so much this overwhelming, can I say that?
Going down in society, but what can we do? Well listen, you can get a ticket to the
match on Sunday and come down to the dripping pan. Absolutely. I think the
thing is with all of this that it's a history of women's football, a lot of
people don't know this but during the First World War the women working in
the munitions factories started to play football as a hobby while the men were
at war and football became very popular and women's football started to attract
crowds in their thousands. When the men came back after the war the FA in 1921
banned women's football. So we do need to positively discriminate in order to
bring women up to where men are and we need to do that in many areas of
society and when we've done it we'll be we'll be laughing. So what's going to
happen tomorrow? Well so the match against Charlton kicks off at two,
right? Before that we've got a fun day starting at 12.30 and I don't know if
you've been to a fun day down at the dripping pan. Well there'll be
samba dancing and they'll be colouring for kids and various activities. We've
also got Sophie coming to talk at half time. Yes. Do you know who she is doing a
talk here on the 25th of November? She's doing a very short talk on
football inclusion at half time and this is quite unusual but you know she's
coming along to do that and because it is our launch of Unlock the Gate. So
we've got we've approached lots of women's groups. We know we've got a lot
of support from you know we approached the Brighton Women's Centre, the
Suffragettes, the March in in Lewis with Bonfire. Yes. Yeah the Mumpreneurs, Lewis
Women in Business, the Athena Network, Rise, the Domestic Abuse Trust. Yes. Lots of
people like locally in women's groups are going to come along and support. Is
the local Women's Equality Party, have they been in? I've been in touch with them and
they are keen that some people come they're not sure if they can make it so
we'll see what happens because obviously we're very much aligned that
they're very much aligned with what we're doing so that sort of makes sense but
hopefully they'll come down but it's been quite moving the responses
that I've been getting. I was going to say what have people and what's been the
response as you've been promoting this, what have people, what's the comeback
been? Well people are generally delighted and especially it's so sort of
moving girls and young women are like we're going to come down to the
dripping pan this is amazing it's so great to have this chance hadn't really
thought about watching football before but I'm going to come and watch it you
know so this it's just it's quite you don't realize how much these so many
women and girls have been deprived in a way of the chance to kind of just be
encouraged to do things like this you know absolutely like your son and his
tiara sort of actively discouraged from wearing one like a woman or a girl who
wants to play football there comes a point when it doesn't fit the traditional
stereotype and that's not fair. No. Society is unfair. There are some gaps.
I think when in this kind of in that interest in that you know so you just
sometimes just need to point it out and do something about it and I really do
think that we are starting something. Is there going to be media coverage of
tomorrow? Yeah there will be I mean we'll take pictures for the press because we're
never sure exactly who's coming down but certainly I think the local press will
come along and we'll get pictures around on social media and because it'd be good
to get some coverage because actually once people know about it then it kind
of builds up and also the argument about Logate is this going to be a is this
going to be a start of something more proactive so I mean is this a launch to
then start to do more activities. Yeah so this is the launch of hashtag unlock
the gate. I've already used that today. So this is the launch of it but there's a big event
there's a big match in February I can't remember I think February the 11th but don't
quote me I'll just quote myself on that. But yeah there's a big match coming up there where
we're really going to kick the football through the thick glass ceiling and we're
going to get it all over the shop yeah. Fantastic so kind of watch this space. So if you want to
come down tomorrow you can get to the dripping pan to watch Charlton ladies
playing Lewis FC women's and it starts at the match starts at two the fun day
starts at 1230 and it's £5 or £3 for concessions under 16s are free you can
come along for the kids day you can come along and stay and watch the football
and make sure that you tweet about it and use the hashtag unlock the gate you
can also go to Facebook if you look at my show from earlier this week you will
have all the links to that as well and also follow Equality FC and obviously
you'll be there to support Lewis FC women but just turn it up. You can get
tickets on the door. I hope it goes really well I'm sure it
well it sounds amazing and I'm sure you get so many people around but I did
actually ask you as our guest if you'd like to choose a song and what song did
you want to choose Karen? Well because okay this links into our matchday posters
and what is happening with the matchday post at the moment is that this is
another thing that no other club does we put the women's and men's fixtures on
the same poster so we're using famous couples at the moment to kind of
publicise this whole idea and link to you know well women's and men's together
at the moment we've got the arrhythmiques on a poster so I thought I'd choose
Annie Lennox sisters are doing it for themselves thank you Karen so much thank
you my pleasure thank you very much
