EDITOR'S VIEW: Why 'whirlwind' Joanna and her campaign team will not be ignored on South Tyneside nurseries
The Stanley’s nurseries protest is moving forward at pace. Gazette Editor Richard Ord caught up with the lead campaigner taking the fight to Save our Stanley’s public.
When mum Joanna Taylor tells me life has been a ‘bit of a whirlwind’ recently, she isn’t kidding.
One day she was an ordinary mum juggling work with looking after her three-year-old daughter, Thea. The next, she found herself in front of TV cameras as the public face of the Stanley’s nurseries campaign.
Of course, I use the word ‘ordinary’ loosely, because doing a full-time job while looking after a three-year-old is no walk in the park. But adding the time and effort of helping organise a very public campaign into the mix is just mind-boggling.
I caught up with Joanna on the day the Stanley’s campaign brought another protest to the steps of the town hall with a creative, eye-catching message spelled out in children’s shoes, and asked how she got involved and, more importantly, how she was coping.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” she told me. “Before this, I was just like any other mum, dropping off her kid and saying hello to the other mums and dads.”
When it was leaked online in early June that there were potential nursery closures in the offing, she immediately set up an online petition. In the blink of an eye, a campaign was born and Joanna found herself thrust into the limelight.
“I’ve been on ITV News, BBC Radio, and even the Guardian’s Polly Toynbee has been in touch,” she said.
And all this from someone with no history of campaigning - or even any desire to take on the establishment.
“I’d never been particularly political,” she told me. “I worked, looked after Thea and relaxed as a family in front of the TV.” Now she’s on it as much as she watches it.
In our short conversation, it was clear that Joanna is a hard-working mum who was never out to stir up trouble, but she does want answers and won’t rest until she gets them. And while she has been getting the media attention, Joanna is quick to point out that she is not in this alone.
She says parents from across the affected nurseries have played a huge part in the campaign, pooling their time and talents into making sure their voices are heard. Local businesses have joined their cause and unions too have given advice and support to the parents involved.
Joanna admits that she’s learned a lot in a short time, not only about the politics of nursery provision but also about herself. She wants the truth to come out, not just for herself and her daughter, but for every parent, child and nursery worker. “We can’t be ignored,” she said.
Something tells me hard-working mum, campaigner and political ‘whirlwind’ Joanna Taylor will not be ignored for long.