SUNDAY March 8 marked International Women’s Day - a chance to celebrate the progress that has been made in women’s rights and place in society and recommit to the work still to be done.

This year marks 115 years of International Women’s Day. It is incredible to think of the progress that has been made during this time.

From securing the right to vote, access to education, to huge leaps in career possibilities, the progress that we have achieved is truly incredible.

It was a Labour government who introduced key legislation to secure this change, including the Equal Pay Act and the Sex Discrimination Act, family allowances and maternity leave, and the right to request flexible working.

Progress isn’t inevitable; we must keep fighting for it. This year’s International Women’s Day theme is rights, justice, action - a call to promote and protect women’s rights.

This Labour government has committed to halving violence against women and girls, closing the gender pay gap, improving childcare, giving greater support for women’s health and strengthening women’s rights at work.

As the first female MP for Barnsley East, now South, I know there have been so many inspirational women locally.

These are women such as Olympian Dorothy Hyman; the late Anne Scargill and her co-founder of Women Against Pit Closures, Betty Cook; Bolshoi Ballet Academy graduate Tala-Lee Turton; Dame Jenni Murray, journalist and presenter who hosted BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour for over 30 years; Stephanie Hirst, radio and TV presenter from Barnsley who hosted the national chart show Hit40UK; professional footballer Bethany England, who has played for the England national team and clubs such as Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur; internationally-known portrait painter, Brenda Bury and Celia Wray, a Barnsley-born suffragette and architect active in the early women’s rights movement and a leading member of the Barnsley Women’s Suffrage Society.

There are also brilliant organisations who support women, from IDAS to BSARCS, the GROW Project working across Barnsley and Rotherham, Ad Astra, who are a social club connecting women, and Barnsley FC Community Trust’s programme to empower women’s mental wellbeing.

I have enjoyed visiting local organisations championing activities for girls in our community, and it was a pleasure to visit the Brownies to hear more about this.

Women Against Pit Closures was established in Barnsley, and their work has been captured by Barnsley Museums in their regular podcast, Barnsley Museums Natters, which can be found here: https://shows.acast.com/barnsley-museums-natters.

In the last week, we saw the opening of Barnsley Museum’s Egyptology exhibition by Barnsley-born leading Egyptologist Dr Joann Fletcher. I was also pleased to attend the launch of Make Me Productions by Catherine Kelly and Tony Pitts, with a showing of Funny Cow, a portrayal of a female comedian finding her place in a male-dominated industry.

Set in the 1970s, this really illustrates how attitudes to women have changed for the better.

As Sports Minister, I have been proud to champion women’s sport through the launch of the Women’s Sport Taskforce.

This aims to understand opportunities and break down barriers to deliver equal access, best in class facilities, ongoing professionalisation of women’s sport, visible role models to inspire future generations of girls and a strong pipeline of UK hosted major events by the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Today and always, Labour will continue to strive for equality, and campaign for change.