Talk and exhibition mark Mary Seacole statue unveiling

On Thursday 30 June, a new statue honouring the Crimean War nurse Mary Seacole will be unveiled in the gardens of St Thomas’ Hospital, directly opposite the Houses of Parliament.

This historic moment will be marked by a number of other events, including a talk at the Florence Nightingale Museum – also on the St Thomas’ Hospital site – and an exhibition about the life and times of Mary Seacole, and the creation of the statue.

The official unveiling will take place after 12 years of campaigning by the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal to raise the necessary funds for the bronze statue.

More than £500,000 was raised through donations from thousands of individual supporters as well as several larger donors.

In November last year Chancellor George Osborne announced that £240,000 of LIBOR banking fines would be donated to the Appeal to pay for the installation.

Sculptor Martin Jennings’ striking work is believed to be the first statue in the UK dedicated to a named black woman.

The unveiling is an invitation-only ceremony but the talk and the exhibition are open to all:

• Lord Soley, Chair of the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal, will give a talk entitled ‘The Birth of a Statue: Mary Seacole Remembered’ at 3.30pm on Wednesday 29 June at the Florence Nightingale Museum – free entry with admission to the museum, no booking required

• An exhibition about the life and times of Mary Seacole – and the creation of the statue – will be open to all in a marquee in the gardens of St Thomas’ Hospital from 2-5pm on Thursday 30 June and from 9am-5pm on Friday 1 July.