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2021 What a Year!

Posted on 29th December 2021

What happened?

Well 2021 didn’t get off to the best start with another lock-down. However there have been some very memorable events in 2021.

On 1 January 2021, it was revealed that Tampon Tax would finally be abolished in the UK

6th of January a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed Capital Hill in America. A horrifying event causing loss of life.

England reached the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship Final which was an edge of your seat moment. Unfortunately we did not win but came very close.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex conformed they would no longer be undertaking duties as part of the Royal family.

In March Sarah Everard went missing and her remains were discovered in Kent. A police officer arrested for her murder. A vigil for her on Clapham Common, near where she had disappeared, led to a controversial police response and four arrests for breaches of COVID-19 regulations.

Kamala Harris made history in 2021, as became the first ever female vice president, as well as the first ever Black and South-Asian vice president.

The emergence of the Delta variant of COVID-19 causes worry and means there might be a potential delay to the end of the restrictions.

The Tokyo Olympic Games proved to be successful for Team GB, and we watched in awe as Tom Daley and Matty Lee took home gold in the 10m synchronised diving.

In 2021 Cyclist Dame Sarah Storey, became the most successful British Paralympian of all time!
She’s won 28 medals across eight games, and took home three gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo games.

In July most remaining legal restrictions on social contact in England were removed.

Panic Buying petrol stations during a fuel supply crisis.

In October the number of people receiving a third vaccine booster dose exceeds 2 million.

In November an inflatable dinghy carrying 30 migrants capsizes while attempting to reach the UK from France, resulting in 27 deaths and one missing. The victims include a pregnant woman and three children. The incident is the deadliest of its kind on record.

The first cases of the Omicron Variant are reported in the UK.

Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes are jailed over the torture and killing of Hughes’ six-year-old son Arthur Labinjo-Hughes. Hughes, found guilty of his manslaughter, is jailed for 21 years. His partner Tustin, found guilty of murdering the boy, receives a minimum of 29 years.

A paper publishes a leaked photo of Boris Johnson at a virtual Christmas quiz in Downing Street on 15 December 2020, sat in-person with two colleagues, when London was under COVID-19 lockdown rules that banned household mixing.

Another leaked photo emerges of former London mayoral candidate and 23 colleagues holding a Christmas party at the Conservative headquarters in London, during the COVID-19 restrictions of December 2020.

23 December – COVID-19 in the UK: Another record high of 119,789 new infections is reported.

Who did we lose?

Prince Phillip- Duke of Edinburgh

Helen McCrory – Actor famous for her [arts in Peaky Blinders and Harry Potter. Married to Damian Lewis

Una Stubbs- Actor famous as Aunt Sally in Worzel Gummidge.

Sean Lock- Comedian

Charlie Watts- Drummer Rolling Stones

Sir David Amess MP- Murdered

Janice Long- Radio Broadcaster- Top of the Pops

Bishop Desmond Tutu- South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. ‘Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world’.

April Ashley-Model ( Pictured above), actress and trans trailblazer. She became only the second Briton to undergo male-to-female gender reassignment surgery, in 1960. She was later photographed for British Vogue and appeared opposite Joan Collins in the film Road to Hong Kong. April was made an MBE in 2012 for her campaigning work for the transgender community.

Advocacy Matters

We have had our ups and downs- thankfully more ups than downs. In 2021 Advocacy Matters provided independent advocates for 1552 people in Birmingham and Walsall. We supported 40 individuals with volunteer advocates and provided approximately 23,280 hours of advocacy.

We are looking forward to a bright future in our 20th Birthday year 2022.