In light of the recent importance of women’s safety in parks during winter, Jasmine Mohamed speaks to Councillor Ruairi Kelly and the founder of The Moira Fund, Beatrice Jones to discusss their thoughts and what they have done to combat this.
Light the Way and The Moira Fund have influenced the urge for increased visibility in all of its local parks. Kelvingrove, Cranhill and Queen’s Park in Glasgow. The Moira Fund was set up in the memory of the late Moira Jones “My beloved daughter was killed in Queen’s Park. Would Moira’s story, my story, have been a different one, if there had been lighting on the park roads and walkways? I will never know, and it is very hard for me even to think about”.
Moira Jones was an only daughter to parents, Beatrice and Hugh Jones and a “big sister” to Grant Jones. Before her passing, Moira was infatuated with graphic design but later changed her mind to complete her degree in business in the University of Central England situated in Birmingham. After spending seven years in London, she was hoping for a change after her love for travel led her to moving to Glasgow in 2003. Moira was “a magnet for goodwill and everyone warmed to her”.
On the fateful night in 2008, the place she would have been taken to was Queen’s Park by her capturer. Moira was “held captive under a tree”, where distant screams could be heard by locals. Moira’s mother highlights that any by-passer “could see nothing in the dark, they did nothing” because of that. Even through everything that the family of Moira have had to endure, her mother says that nothing “can surpass the biggest and most beautiful Queen’s Park which I love dearly in spite of what happened there to my beloved daughter”. The fund is in its 11th year hosting the annual Moira’s run for 5K. The energetic atmosphere lights up Queen’s Park in October every year. The one and only Moira bringing them together through kindred spirit time and time again.
In the early 2000’s, locals would not think twice about the poor visibility in parks, it was something that was not much thought of. “Previously parks used to be closed at night, so maybe not as big of an issue, in the past you would have just had council officers that would have went round and closed the gates of the parks” confirms Councillor Ruairi Kelly. However, to look at the bigger picture, that does not mean that there could not have been less opportunity for danger prior to the hours of 8 or 9pm. The need and the neccessity to understand how a resident would casually walk through the park is important, as that would vary for everyone. Councillor Kelly further insists that the “input from younger people, the primary users” of the park is needed in order to assess the park from every angle of the user.
Light the Way marches and the globally known #metoo movement have made residents consider women’s safety in parks and place this at the forefront of their minds. Light the Way marches that take place every year since 2021, encourage women to step up to the wider issue and aide them in feeling safer in poorly lit areas and the dark. The movement of #metoo has also widely spread and gave the confidence to women to speak up about their experiences and how that impacts their daily life. The Moira fund, nevertheless, does this in a similar manner by the encouragement of fund events and the annual run. Councillor Kelly sadly admits that “Parks themselves aren’t the danger, people in them are the danger”, which essentially sparks more of the reason for the continuation of demonstrations and movements. It is important to note councillor Kelly thinks that “lighting itself won’t solve that and given people fewer opportunities where they can carry out assaults is probably one of the things that we have control over”.
Moira’s mother adds that even though, we have an “instinctive fear” of the dark, we must not let this get in the way. There are so many things that the parks provide that we are missing out on, if we chose to succumb to our fears and what if’s. A park should incline a day away from the stressful and fast-paced lives we all now live. Our mobile phones constantly distract our thoughts and mind from what’s really in front of us. So many “who are bogged down with worries of all sorts” in a way it gives our brain “some order to the inner turmoil”. Moira’s passing brings a few questions to light, some of these can never be answered. Her mother contemplates “If there had been lights along that first walkway, which was only a few yards from the perimeter, would that have deterred her assailant from taking her in there at all”. We will never know whether the lights would have any part to play and if that would change the events that occurred. The one thing that we do know is that in Moira’s memory we will see the light at the end of the tunnel.
