Heather Wood
(she/her)Activist
The Hope Brigade project is a great example of how people face conflict and still choose resilience and peace. Hope grows from ordinary people organising, supporting one another, and refusing to accept injustice as permanent. Through years of collective struggle, I have seen how communities survive pressure, create change, and carry hope forward across generations.
Heather has spent most of her life working for equality, justice and peace, believing every person deserves dignity and the opportunity to thrive. Involved in politics from a young age, she organised her first strike at 17, driven by a strong belief in fairness, collective action and standing up for working people.
Growing up in a community shaped by struggle and solidarity taught Heather that real change is achieved when people come together. This understanding has guided her commitment to women's rights and to strengthening and defending our communities.
During the 1984 miners strike, Heather helped organise women in mining communities recognising their vital role in sustaining families, supporting the strike and keeping communities alive. Women's contributions were often ignored or undervalued and she was determined that their work, courage and leadership would be recognised and remembered.
Today Heather’s work focuses on bringing women together from across Britain and from a number of other countries to celebrate and commemorate the work women have done in struggles for justice, peace and equality. She believes in giving young women hope and encouragement, showing them that they stand on the shoulders of those who came before them and that they can continue the struggle for a fairer and more equal world.