A copy of the petition carried by the Jarrow Marchers 90 years ago will be taken to Downing Street on Monday by descendants of those who took part.
A party of around 30, led by Jarrow MP Kate Osborne, will arrive at No. 10 with a copy of the petition signed by 12,000 Jarrow residents appealing for help in a town afflicted by a 70% unemployment rate.
The petition will be carried in the original box used by the marchers in 1936, provided by South Tyneside Council for the occasion.
The MP and North East Museums have also arranged a same-day exhibition at Parliament, featuring items including a tea ticket issued to the marchers and material from the collection of Ellen Wilkinson, Jarrow MP at the time of the march.
The London events follow the unveiling of a plaque by Kate Osborne at the former Palmers ship repair yard in Hebburn.
The closure of the Palmers industrial sites during the Great Depression, which had been major employers in the area, was a cause of the widespread deprivation which followed.
Balaena Tyne, formerly A&P Tyne, marked the anniversary at its Hebburn shipyard, bringing together local people, schoolchildren and guests to remember the 200 men who marched to London in 1936 in their fight for jobs and the future of their community.
The plaque is inscribed: “Honouring the courage, dignity and determination of the 200 men who marched to London for the right to work.”
Among those attending was 96-year-old Jim Cuthbert, who provided a living link to the events of 1936.
As a five-year-old boy, he stood with his father and watched the men gather and set off on their march to London.
The occasion also had particular personal significance for Balaena chairman Alan Donnelly, who worked for the GMB trade union in the North East before representing Tyne and Wear and later the wider region in the European Parliament.
He said: “The Jarrow March is woven into the history of this part of the North East. Having spent so much of my own working life representing the people and industrial communities of Tyne and Wear, it is a privilege to remember those 200 men and what they stood for.
“What makes today particularly poignant is that as a five-year-old boy Jim Cuthbert stood with his father and watched the men set off on their journey.
“Ninety years later, he returned to commemorate them alongside local schoolchildren who are now learning that story for themselves.
“The marchers were fighting for work, for industry and for the future of their community. Those principles remain enormously relevant today.”
The commemorations are also looking to the future with the establishment of the Jarrow March Next Step Fund through the Community Foundation North East.
The fund aims to help young people in Jarrow aged 12–18 overcome barriers to employment by supporting opportunities including work experience, training and specialist equipment.
Jarrow Forward, the government-funded Neighbourhood Board, has allocated an initial £125,000.
Grants of £200–£1,000 will be available to help young people pursue their ambitions, covering costs such as travel, tuition, short courses, workplace visits, mentoring, interview clothing, tools, laptops and study materials.
