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A woman in a purple Rebel for Life t-shirt sits on a low stone wall before the Houses of Parliament and a statue in London.

Greenpeace, roadblocks, blindness and baketivism: Fiona Westlake

By Kit Westlake

Fiona  Westlake – my mum – became coordinator of the Cambridge Greenpeace group in 2015. Since then she has lead us on many successful campaigns, including kicking Shell out of the Arctic and Lego dropping their ties with them, getting Brazil to give up on the Tapajos Dam, HSBC committing to reducing its deforestation investments, and helping a team from London HQ host an Antarctic exhibition in a giant igloo on Jesus Green, as well as an art show of our own and popular appearances at Strawberry Fair with our team of superheroes.

A newspaper page featuring photos of Greenpeace volunteers, a woman in a leafy mask, and an advert for Marc Almond in concert.

Fiona – who lost her sight when she was 11 – is also a member of Cambridge Extinction Rebellion since late 2018, which has included many roadblocks and a memorable night in Parliament Square locked on with a member of the Glasgow camp.

A smiling woman wears a white chef's hat with the word Baketivist embroidered in blue, standing in front of a bookcase.

Both Greenpeace and XR have benefited from her fantastic efforts as a baketivist: from penguin shaped biscuits at Antarctic focused Greenpeace stalls, to vegan tiffin deemed ‘life saving’ by many a rebel during long London XR camps, leading up to playing a major role in the catering of a Cambridge occupation just over a year ago

A person wearing a purple sun hat holds a sign reading MAKE OUR PLANET GREAT AGAIN behind a table covered with a green cloth.

Two people stand behind a green-covered table displaying a model washing machine and banners about Siemens and the Amazon.


Celebrating the courage and resilience of the women of Cambridge

 

Graphic design reading CAM HER STORY in white letters on stacked red, green, and purple stripes with yellow and blue shapes.

Cambridge Herstory is an archive and resource of Cambridge Women’s Heritage, celebrating the courage and resilience of the women of Cambridge.

The archive celebrates the contributions of women who have lived, worked and studied in Cambridge throughout the ages: from stories of women in history who changed the city for the better, and often contributed nationally to  stories of women currently living in Cambridge who make massive contributions to improve the lives of their friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, community members and our city every single day.

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