AN EVENT celebrating the centenary of the first women being granted the right to vote was held in Darlington yesterday.

The National Council of Women-organised event, at the Hullabaloo Theatre, examined the history of the suffrage movement in the area through a talk by Chris Lloyd of The Northern Echo.

He told the audience about the multiple Suffragist organisations once running in the town and a huge peaceful protest march which passed through Darlington on its way to London, but the march was eclipsed by the arrest of Emmeline Pankhurst in London.

A question and answer session featuring young voters including Jenny Raw, a member of the National Council of Young Women, Jess Halliday, a former Darlington Youth MP and Josh Mitchell, a pupil from Polam Hall School, also took place, with some interesting questions from the audience.

Much of the day's events revolved around trying to encourage more women to use the vote that the Suffragettes and Suffragists fought so hard for more than 100 years ago.

This year marks the centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which enabled property-owning women over 30 to vote, and all men over 21, and the event was a celebration of the suffrage movement's efforts.

Local singer Hayley McKay provided music during the lunch break, while Yvonne Preston from Scrapstudio Art allowed youngers to create Votes for Women crafts.

Children from Reid Street Primary School and Corporation Road Primary took part in poetry sessions and there were readings of Votes for Women Poetry by the Vane Women poets.

Dressmaker and costume historian Meredith Towne gave a talk on early 20th century fashion and history, before the children read out their poems and showed off the crafts they had created.

The event was part of Darlington Arts Festival.

Organiser Heather Carter said: "