Channel 4 is #ChampioningWomensVoices in Celebration of International Women’s Day

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2021 Channel 4 is paying homage to the powerful achievements of an array of inspiring women across its platforms, with the accompanying hashtag #ChampioningWomensVoices.

On Monday 8th March the broadcaster is handing over its airwaves to the following selection of remarkable women in celebration of the important role they have played during the pandemic. They will share their stories with Channel 4 viewers throughout the day’s schedule via special continuity announcements aired together with a bespoke Channel 4 ident.

• Professor Sarah Gilbert – In December, the Covid-19 vaccine developed and tested by Sarah and colleagues at the Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group was approved for use in the UK and across the World.

• Dame Elizabeth Anionwu – as the UK’s first sickle-cell and thalassaemia nurse specialist, she helped establish the Brent Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Counselling Centre and also created the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice at the University of West London.

• Sarah White, Headteacher at Coates Lane Primary School - Sarah’s letter to parents at the school to say that it was "okay" if they were struggling with home schooling went viral, touching hearts across the country.

• Dr Nisreen Alwan MBE – initiated the call to Count ‘Long Covid’, among other significant contributions to the public health response throughout the past year.

• Alyson Walsh – As Commercial Director at FareShare Alyson has worked tirelessly with Marcus Rashford and FareShare’s network of over 30 warehouses to distribute an average of over 2 million meals each week to families and individuals at risk of hunger; in the process driving the issue of food insecurity to the top of the news agenda.

• Matron May Parsons – the first person in the world to administer a Covid-19 vaccine to a patient outside of clinical trials. As part of the hospital trust’s peer vaccinator programme for the flu jab, she set the record for the most vaccines given by an individual for three years running - 140 a day!

• Kate Bingham – As Chair of the Vaccine Taskforce in 2020 Kate led a team of world-class experts from across industry, science, academia, funding, regulators, logistics and government with the shared purpose of finding and manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine/s.


Channel 4 will celebrate these women and their stories across its social channels with a series of posts highlighting their impressive stories.

Zaid Al-Qassab, CMO and inclusion and diversity director, Channel 4 said: “We’re hugely proud to be handing over the mic on International Women’s Day to such talented and inspiring women, highlighting their incredibly powerful achievements and providing a national  platform for their important stories.” 

All 4 is #ChampioningWomensVoices throughout March with a curated collection of titles celebrating female stories and experiences – these will take over the All 4 homepage on Monday.

The streaming service’s devoted section, which will remain available beyond International Women’s Day and after Women’s History Month has concluded, sees a broad collection of female led shows from real stories and cutting edge comedy to documentaries and film where women both on screen and behind the camera are placed at the heart of the content.

This is reflected in Film4’s peak time schedule on Monday which is made up of a series of films centred around female-focussed stories, with women featuring prominently both on and off screen, including Oscar nominated Hidden Figures.

Off-air Channel 4 is championing the day with a programme of events for its staff and partners.