This year, life in Britain has felt quite hopeless. The cost of living crisis continues, salaries remain stagnant and the far-right is becoming more emboldened in their harmful rhetoric. So, it can be easy for many of us to sink into this hopelessness. But hope and joy play such powerful roles in organising and campaigning for a better world. When the far-right took to the streets of London in September, it was a terrifying time for marginalised communities – but I also witnessed what solidarity in action looked like and it was inspiring. Women came together to stand against the far-right in counter-demonstrations, WhatsApp groups were active with check-in messages and people protected the hotels housing migrants that far-right groups were targeting with their attacks.
To spotlight the significance of hope in pushing for a better world, I spoke to a range of women in the feminist and activism spaces about what’s given them hope in 2025.
Banseka Kayembe, founder of Naked Politics
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When Zack Polanski was elected leader of the Green Party, I was in the room reporting on it, and it genuinely felt like a potentially pivotal moment in British politics. We’re so used to leaders chasing votes by blaming migrants, targeting trans people or weaponising women’s safety, but Polanski has done the opposite. He’s come in strong and punchy, putting the Greens on the national radar while refusing to throw marginalised people under the bus, and focusing instead on the cost of living – the issue that affects all of us. It’s an important reminder that you can lead, grow a movement and speak to real public concerns without sacrificing anyone’s rights or dignity. I’m cautious about putting too much faith in any one leader, but so far his leadership makes hope feel like a possibility in politics again.
Ruby Rare, sex content creator and educator
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I won’t lie, hope has been hard to come by this year. And yet we persist. Reading Prishita Maheshwari-Aplin's debut book Roses For Hedone has been a great source of hope for me. Their vision of pleasure as a practice of solidarity, and the foundation of our collective liberation, is needed now more than ever. It may seem frivolous to some, but I’ve felt the most connected, alive and joyful on sweaty filthy dancefloors – special shoutout to Joyride Rave at Corsica Studios. These moments allow me to get back into my body, shake off the panic of looming fascism for a moment, and leave me ready to come out fighting again.
Ashley James, campaigner and author of Bimbo
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What has carried me through hasn’t been one big moment or one person, but the women around me – my sisterhood. When life feels heavy, it’s my friends who raise me back up, and we rally around each other when everything feels too much. Whether we’re navigating sleepless nights, affairs, current affairs or the impossible juggle of childcare, we don’t do it alone.
Trekking through the Sahara with CoppaFeel! was a reminder of how sisterhood carries us through the hardest moments – calm words of encouragement, listening ears, and shared strength as we navigated exhaustion, fear, laughter and heat, step by step. Seeing what some of those women have been through with their own breast cancer journeys – some still ongoing – and watching them get up each day and take one step forward was a profound reminder of resilience. A reminder that we can push back, and that we must – not just for ourselves, but for those who don’t have the freedom or platform to do so, like our sisters in Afghanistan.
This sisterhood feels like a slow, systemic shift towards something more matriarchal – a world that values care, healing and connection. Maybe this is what women have always done: sticking together, quietly rebelling, and surviving systems that were never built for us. And right now, that feels like hope.
Issey Gladston, founder of Sexy Climate Change
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Despite all of the setbacks we’ve seen this year in the climate sector, Zack Polanski is someone who has made me feel hopeful in 2025. He's offering a clear, hopeful vision of the future that reminds me of why so many of us got involved in social justice movements in the first place. It’s refreshing to see the left move beyond what can often feel like constant critique and infighting, and instead focus on what we’re actually trying to build.
The Greens are speaking honestly about people’s very real concerns, housing shortages, crumbling public services and widening wealth inequality – and respond with justice-led solutions, rather than the racist scapegoating pushed by the far-right. While electoral politics certainly isn’t everything, seeing politicians like Polanski at home and abroad mainstreaming green ideas and hopeful futures is what’s made me feel optimistic this year.
Eliza Hatch, founder of Cheer Up Luv
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For every problematic comment I see online, in recent years I have found that it's much more common to see other men calling things out. For all the backlash we have seen in recent years to feminism and progressive views, I am hopeful that it is possible to move back in the other direction. I am also constantly encouraged, given hope and motivated by my peers in the sector who work tirelessly to advocate for the rights of women and people of marginalised genders, and who work everyday with young people to change the culture.
We very rarely see headlines about workshops run by organisations who promote positive masculinity, or about programmes which tackle rape culture in schools. For every heartbreaking statistic and headline we see, there are thousands of people who are passionately working to eradicate gender based violence – and that gives me hope.
Paula Akpan, historian and author of When We Ruled
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The people who have given me hope are the protestors who have been standing for our civil liberties – and the liberties of communities around the world in Palestine, Sudan and more. In an age of protest repression from the British state and manufactured consent from our political-media class, these protestors reiterate the power of the people, especially when we take to the streets for causes bigger than ourselves. The people united will never be defeated!
Monika Radojevic, poet and author of Strangerland
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I attended an event this year called PleasureCon, run by Feminist Fiction Berlin and Women Writing Berlin Lab. It was an inclusive feminist space for women, gender-fluid, trans and non-binary people to come together for a market, workshops, stalls, an open mic, and much more, all centred on pleasure – of all kinds, not just sexual.
Centring joy and pleasure can be disruptive in so many ways, and after a long year it felt like a day of recuperation, laughter and solidarity. My favourite part was the 'no self-deprecation' rule that everyone was called on to uphold; whenever someone undermined themselves or apologised for taking up space, they would be lovingly invited to say three nice things about themselves. Sometimes a small action like that can have such a powerful impact, and I saw that happen many times over that day.
Naomi Evans, co-founder of Everyday Racism
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Hope isn’t just a feeling, it’s an act of will. Choosing hope becomes a deliberate practice, something we nurture and invest in. Activism, at its core, depends on this choice. Without hope, it becomes impossible to reimagine a better future. The state of the world can understandably leave us discouraged. But hope is not passive. It’s a decision we return to. One of the most inspiring developments has been the renewed strength of grassroots organising. Communities are coming together with fresh energy and determination, driven in part by the values championed by The Green Party. While no single individual can (or should) carry the full weight of our expectations, there’s a growing sense of possibility taking root.
It feels like we’re at the beginning of something new in politics, a movement built from the ground up, powered by shared values, collective action, and the belief that a better world is still within reach. And that belief, that hope, is what keeps us moving forward.
Katie Baskerville, author of Beyond Belief
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When my partner was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, I saw first hand how integral immigration is to our NHS. It's something I’ve always known, but in such a critical moment I’ve never been more grateful for its diverse and dedicated workforce. With their care, he is doing well – and without them, so many lives would crumble. There is a lot to look forward to in 2026, most of all, the hope that things can – and do, get better.
