This month, millions of people across the world celebrated the Hindu festival of colours Holi, which dates back over two thousand years. On the morning of the festival, streets fill with clouds of coloured powder called gulal and for one day, every social boundary dissolves. The tradition comes from the story of Krishna and Radha: Krishna, whose skin was dark blue, worried that fair-skinned Radha wouldn’t love him. His mother told him to go and colour Radha’s face in any shade she chose. She did, and they became inseparable.

Women have always been the holders — of families, of emotional weight, of other people's needs. We live in a culture that rewards doing: more output, more availability, more momentum. Stillness can feel like the opposite of progress, but it's actually the foundation of it.

There is something profound in choosing to stop, to sit with the weight that women have carried across centuries and gently acknowledge it, with understanding and compassion.

We welcome you to recognise the hard work put in by women in our lives - grandmothers, mothers, friends, partners, daughters and sisters.