The Madge Turner Flag Project
Sewn in Solidarity
When Madge Turner took to the streets of Chichester to campaign for women's right to vote, she carried a flag. More than a century later, a group of women in Chichester have sewn one in her honour.
The Madge Turner Flag Project is a collaborative textile artwork created by women supported by four Chichester charities — Sanctuary in Chichester, Lifecentre, My Sisters' House Women's Centre, and Stonepillow. Brought together by sculptor and public artist Kate Viner and made possible by a grant from Chichester City Council, it is the first time these four organisations have collaborated on a single piece of artwork. The result is something that belongs to all of them.
"Dare to be Free"
The flag carries the Women's Freedom League slogan that Madge herself would have known: Dare to be Free. Kate Viner, who is creating the bronze statue of Madge for the Madge Turner Statue Appeal, was drawn to the power of that image from the start — a woman striding forward, holding something that declares belief and intent. She decided the flag Madge would carry in the statue should be made the same way suffragist flags always were: by women, together.
The women who took part come from very different circumstances — among them refugees and asylum seekers, women experiencing homelessness, and survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.
Yet the project revealed something that its organiser hadn't anticipated. As Kate Viner observed, the four charities had significant crossover in terms of the women they support, but had previously worked independently. The flag project brought them together as a community for the first time.
How the flag was made
Creative workshops were held across several Chichester venues, including Chichester Cathedral, the Novium Museum, and the Assembly Rooms. Sessions were carefully structured with safeguarding and emotional wellbeing at the heart of the process. Icebreakers, mood boards and a shared sketchbook helped participants find their footing before needle met fabric — with one gentle note in the sketchbook summing up the spirit of the whole project: "Don't be afraid — if sewing is scary, glue is your friend."
Therapists supported the workshops throughout, because, as Kate puts it, creating art can bring up emotions you weren't expecting. Each group worked separately, so that their contributions remained distinct, before master quilter Suzanne Boulter brought the pieces together into a unified whole.
The flag's design draws on Madge's own interests as well as those of the women involved. Madge wrote about British wildflowers, and floral symbolism runs through the work. Around the edges of the "Dare to be Free" side, the national flowers of the countries of the women who took part have been carefully embroidered — a quiet but powerful reminder of who was in the room.
For Sanctuary in Chichester, whose participants include women who speak little or no English, the act of sewing the words Dare to be Free carried particular meaning. As Jude Clouston, Trustee of Sanctuary in Chichester, put it: "The act of sewing these words in a safe, supportive space can be a healing and emboldening act of defiance, helping to give them a voice — some for the very first time." Participation by Sanctuary was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the ChichestHER exhibition.
What happens next
The finished flag will take centre stage at ChichestHER: Their Story, Our Inspiration— the landmark exhibition at the Novium Museum opening on 17 October 2026. Expected to be seen by more than 20,000 visitors, it will sit at the heart of an exhibition dedicated to redressing the historic imbalance in how women's contributions to Chichester District have been recorded and celebrated.
The original textile will be preserved rather than cast — it is, as Kate Viner says, too special to alter. Instead, it will be 3D scanned so that Madge's bronze statue can carry a faithful reproduction. The textile itself will have a long life beyond the exhibition, cared for and used by the four partner charities and the wider community for future events.
Support the next chapter
The Madge Turner Flag Project is one part of a wider mission to make women visible in the history — and the landscape — of Chichester. The flag tells the story of who Madge was and why she matters. The statue will make her impossible to overlook.
If you'd like to help make the Madge Turner Statue Appeal a reality, we'd love your support.