1 Billion Reasons for Nostalgia

In February 2012 Preston was a very different place. It was almost six months to the Preston Guild so organisers were preparing for a fantastic showcase of entertainment which only occurs every twenty years. The city was full of shoppers as they were riding high from the recent January sales. 

 

It was also during this time that The One Billion Rising campaign began. The event has taken place every year since 2012 on Valentine’s Day. It is organised by the Creative Communities Group and sees a series of willing men and women dance for a approximately 5 minutes in solidarity to the brutal violent attacks against women.

 

Over the years it has become a staple point in the academic calendar for students and staff at UCLAN who always look forward to joining in and showing their support. 

 

This isn’t just a local act of solidarity either, more than 200 other countries collaborate in making it one of the biggest mass action events in human history. 

 

It is unique in that the setting for the scheduled dance performance can take place in a variety of places. These include:-

The Preston event is usually led by World Salsa Dance Champion Phil Kaila and Salsa Northwest with  backing music to accompany the dance. 

 

Fast forward nine years and it’s a very different story. There’s no venue to host the event, no volunteers to dance in fear of catching the disease and most of all no love at the end of the dance to thank each other for attending. 

 

This year The CCG have decided not to stage  the annual event which would have taken place this coming Sunday in response to government guidelines. 

 

Instead, however, we’re encouraging you to look back at a previous 1 Billion Rising event with the hope that one day we’ll be able to put on another outstanding showcase for the good of Preston and around the world. 

 

This five minute film is taken from the 2019 event. You’ll notice at the closure of the film everybody is clapping, hugging each other and shaking hands, something I’m sure we’re all really missing in response to this global pandemic. So many have been terribly affected especially, ‘mothers, teachers and beautiful creatures.’

 

 

To conclude, Russell Hogarth, UCLAN Honorary Fellow and co-founder and chair of the UCLAN CCGUK expressed his appreciation for the event in recent years,

 

“ It was a fabulous event and I want to thank everyone who took part for their support. We were delighted by the number of people who turned up to take part in this global dance event to highlight the shocking global statistic of one billion and rising violent attacks against women”. 

 

Let’s hope one day we can all be together again. 

 

^Alex Ashworth CCG UK Blogger