The Campaign
In 2016, a group of women working in Cardiff got together to do something about the fact that not one single statue existed in the whole of Wales of a ‘real’ Welsh woman. Despite the amazing contribution of Welsh women to life in Wales, their achievements were not being celebrated in the way that men’s successes often have – by being immortalised, commemorated and celebrated with public statues. The achievements of Wales’ wonderful women were being hidden, or worse - forgotten. At that first meeting, Monumental Welsh Women was born.
At the time, Cardiff was undergoing a dramatic redevelopment around the area you’re standing in today, which used to be the old bus station. Monumental Welsh Women persuaded Cardiff Council that the area now known as Central Square would be the perfect place for a statue. But not just any statue – the first statue of a historical Welsh woman, an artwork that would be world class, and a city landmark that everyone who visited Cardiff would want to see.
But how to choose the woman to be celebrated? Monumental Welsh Women worked with Women’s Equality Network Wales to draw up a list of 100 Welsh women to mark the centenary of women getting the vote in 1918. They chose 50 contemporary women and 50 historical women, all of whom were celebrated at an event in the Senedd in 2018.
From that list of 50 historical women, Monumental Welsh Women and a panel of experts chose a shortlist of 5 who illustrated the breadth and depth of the achievements of Welsh women over the centuries. Working with BBC Wales, the 5 hidden heroines were put to a public vote to ask the people of Wales to choose who would be honoured with a statue in Wales’ capital.
The winner was announced in January 2019. The woman chosen was Betty Campbell.
The Time Line
January 2019
The Hidden Heroines campaign airs on BBC Wales, with one woman from a shortlist of 5 profiled every day.
January 18th 2019
Betty Campbell wins the Hidden Heroines public vote to become the first statue of a named woman in Wales. Her image is projected onto the side of BBC Wales’ new HQ in Central Square.
June 4th 2019
Eve Shepherd is announced as the sculptor chosen to create the statue.
June 2019
Eve Shepherd begins work to bring the monument to life.
2020
The global pandemic delays the making of the statue.
September 27th 2021
The covered statue is placed on its plinth in Central Square.
September 29th 2021
The Betty Campbell Monument was unveiled by her family in a special ceremony in Cardiff.