East Kent Sudbury are proud to host this wonderful event!

BOOK LAUNCH: Join Eloise Rickman for a day of conversation on children’s liberation as we launch her ‘groundbreaking’ manifesto for children’s rights

Saturday 15th June, 10:00-16:00

£32 / £16 concessions

Click here to buy your tickets!

Join us for a day-long workshop on children’s rights and liberation to celebrate the publication of Eloise Rickman’s new book It’s Not Fair: why it’s time for a grown-up conversation about how adults treat children.

Held in the beautiful setting of East Kent Sudbury; a children’s democratic community, this will be an opportunity for parents, educators, and anyone interested in social justice to come together and talk about how we can build a fairer world for children – and for all of us.

There will also be an opportunity to purchase a signed copy of It’s Not Fair five days ahead of its official publication date.

About Eloise:

Eloise Rickman is a writer whose work focuses on adultism (the structural oppression of children by adults), children’s rights, and children’s liberation.

She is currently completing graduate studies in children’s rights at UCL’s Institute of Education, and has a degree in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge. Her first book Extraordinary Parenting (Scribe) was published in 2020, and she writes a newsletter called Small Places.

She grew up in Brighton and currently lives in London, where she home-educates her daughter. You can find her on Instagram here.

About the book:

Why do some adults think it’s fine to hit children?

Why does the school system fail so many pupils?

And when their future is on the line, why can’t children vote?

How we treat children isn’t fair. Despite the lip service paid to their rights, children are still discriminated against in every aspect of their lives: rising levels of child poverty, underfunded and outdated education and childcare systems, controlling parenting practices, and political systems that exclude their voices on issues which will affect them most — not least the climate crisis.

Children are not passive victims of oppression, but their resistance and struggle for equality has been largely ignored by the wider social justice movement — until now. In this groundbreaking manifesto, Eloise Rickman argues that it’s time to stop viewing children as less than adults and start fighting for their rights to be taken seriously.

Radical, compassionate, and profoundly hopeful, this powerful new book signals the start of a long-overdue conversation about how we treat children. Featuring practical solutions and the voices of children and adults who are working towards them, It’s Not Fair is a call to embrace children’s liberation and the possibility of a better, fairer world.

Speaking about the book, Eloise said:

“As a society we’re slowly getting better at spotting injustice such as sexism and racism, but adultism – the structural oppression of children by adults – has been largely ignored. This book challenges the assumption that adult power over children is natural and necessary, and argues that far from being a dusty relic from the 1970s, children’s liberation has never been more urgent. I hope It’s Not Fair will start a serious conversation about how we can fight adultism and embrace children’s rights to build a fairer world for everyone.”

Event format:

We plan for this to be a responsive workshop, where themes which come up earlier in the day can be explored in later sessions, but this is our proposed structure:

10:00 – 10:30 Opening session

10:30 – 11:30 Why it’s time for us to embrace children’s liberation: Eloise talk + Q&A

11:30 – 11:45 Coffee break

11:45 – 12:45 Centring children’s rights and voices: A conversation between Eloise and Kate Coleman from East Kent Sudbury + Q&A

12:45 – 13:45 Lunch break + opportunity to buy a signed copy of It’s Not Fair from a bookseller from The Folkestone Bookshop

13:45-14:45 Dismantling adultism in our homes and settings: Short talk followed by small-group discussion circles

14:45 – 15:00 Coffee break

15:00-16:00 Continuing the conversation about how adults treat children: Closing session and reflections

Additional information –

Food and drink: In order to keep ticket costs down, we ask you to please bring your lunch with you. We will provide drinks and light refreshments throughout the day.

Children and childcare: We want this event to be as inclusive as possible, and are delighted to welcome babes-in-arms. Unfortunately there will be no childcare available at this event, but we are already planning a follow up event for the whole family, so watch this space.

A note on the space: If the sun is shining, we may decide to run some of the sessions outdoors in the beautiful grounds.

Getting here: 

Our address is Rippledown House, Dover Road, CT14 8HE.

By car: There is plenty of space for parking however, we encourage you to car share or use public transport where possible to help us reduce the environmental impact of the event.

By train: Our closest station is Walmer, but Deal and Dover Priory are not too far. We are a 5-6 minute taxi ride from Walmer train station. We recommend you prebook a taxi to collect you when your train arrives to avoid delay.

AI Castle Taxis – . 01304363636
Direct Cars – 01304382222
Deal cars – 01304382345

Access Information:

If you are disabled, neurodivergent or have other support needs please find the access information here.

 

For enquiries, please contact naomi.clarke@ekss.org.uk 

Click here to buy your tickets!