This post is a special one as it’s about someone who has inspired me for my entire life. She’s one of the strongest women I know, and where I get a big part of my activist spirit. This inspiring activist is Judith Brown — my Nan.
Judith Brown is the Ambassador for Bristol’s Older People’s Forum, which she was also the Chair of for over ten years, and she helps run BAB (Bristol Ageing better) as a Trustee. Both of these groups are there to make older people’s lives better and to advocate for them in a society that often overlooks and undervalues the older generations. Bristol’s Older People’s Forum promotes the rights of older people in the city of Bristol by informing, campaigning, and working with key local, regional and national partners, and Bristol Ageing Better works as a partnership of individuals and organisations working together to reduce isolation and loneliness among older people in Bristol. Judith has worked hard within these organisations to create awareness of older people’s rights and has been directly involved in the BAB Aadmin animation short about loneliness as well as the Babbers broadcast with Ujima Radio which was run by and for Bristolian older people who wanted to make their voices heard. The show presented a positive depiction of ageing and challenged stereotypes for five years.
As well as being apart of this collective action, Judith has also campaigned for older people on an individual level by starting petitions, talking to politicians, and even uploading a song on YouTube about how important older people’s bus passes are. Judith doesn’t just campaign for the rights of older people though, she has been working all her life to fight for equality. In an interview on Babbers, Judith talked about how she was influenced by the strong women in her life to help other people. When she was a child she saw her grandmother standing up to defend a neighbour and her family from an abusive partner. This made quite an impact on her, and inspired her to stand up for others. Judith did this in part by working with the NHS and being a Nurse Welfare Worker and Social Services Trainer before she retired. She has also been on Pride Marches, protests against the Tampon Tax, protests against the Tories’ public sector cuts (Nan took me to this when I was about twelve, it was the first protest I had been too and had a real impact on me). Judith was even present at the famous Greenham Common protest back in the 1980s, which was an incredibly important part of Feminist & Green activist history.
Judith has done a lot for society and particularly Bristol’s communities. Her work has been recognised with several awards and she has deserves all the recognition. But… I’m going to stop being so formal now. I wanted to talk to you about her like this so you can see all the amazing work she has done. But to call her Judith Brown is weird to me, because she is my Nan. And it would be amiss to talk about all Nan’s achievements without mentioning how she did all this whilst also raising two strong women and helping raise her grandchildren too. My Nan has been there for me all my life. My dad left me as a baby and until my step-dad came into the picture, my Nan stepped into that dad role to help my mum raise me.
Nan has greatly influenced who I am, and she has always supported me in following my dreams and working as an activist to help society be better. In fact, her example has inspired everyone in my family to hold these values. My mum works to help young people in a college, my aunty works in a nursing home, my cousin works at a care home…. I feel like my nan has influenced all of us to have the same drive that she has in wanting to help people and change the world. I love her and appreciate her so much for this, I can’t even begin to describe it.
I wanted to share a bit about my Nan with you because I think with all the jokes about older people being stuck in the past, we forget how the older generations blazed the trail for current activism. My Nan has been an activist all her life, and today she is 82 years old. She is a strong woman, a mother, grandmother, activist, ambassador and more. When I asked Nan what her advice would be for the younger generations in this interview series for Rife, she said it would be to always stay true to yourself. This is the lesson she has lived by. And I am so proud of her.
Thank you Nan for all the work you have done and for being such an inspiration. I love you so much. Happy birthday.
If you want to wish my Nan a happy birthday, feel free to comment down below. I’ll make sure to tell her about all the birthday wishes. Thank you for reading this article and sharing in the love of my nan with me.
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