Cheer Up Luv is a photo series turned platform dedicated to retelling the stories of sexual harassment and assault survivors, empowering their narratives and advocating for the rights of women and marginalised genders.
Founded in 2017 by Eliza Hatch, the Cheer Up Luv campaign was organically launched after an experience of street harassment triggered her to start swapping stories with her female friends. Five years later, the series has grown into a globally renowned platform combining art with journalism, activism, events, exhibitions, social media and a podcast that facilitates discussions about feminism, misogyny, and everyday sexism. Cheer Up Luv platform aims to raise awareness of the prevalence of misogyny and sexual assault in our daily lives and facilitate helpful conversations while crushing harmful taboos.
Cheer Up Luv has developed into workshops, exhibitions, lectures, and consultancy, where Eliza advises on inclusively communicating these topics. Eliza has worked with global organisations like The United Nations, Apple and TEDx. She has been a guest speaker at Nicer Tuesdays, Today At Apple, TEDx, The University of Cambridge, Kings College, Forbes Ignite, Girl Rising and UN Women. Eliza is an ongoing tutor at the University of Falmouth, where she teaches Visual Communication. Eliza's work has been featured in major publications like The BBC, The Guardian, i-D, Dazed, to name a few, and has been exhibited at the International Centre of Photography in New York, Photo London, Sri Lanka, Warsaw and Berlin.
In 2022, alongside artist and illustrator Bee Illustrates, Eliza co-created Hysterical, a yearly group exhibition and event series running throughout Women's History Month. The annual event platforms many women and non-binary artists reclaiming the term hysterical, and using their voices for change. Following their debut's massive success, they returned in 2023 with Hysterical: A Celebration of Subversive Art, an event described by the Evening Standard as 'an intimate and cathartic exploration of misogyny.' They have currently just wrapped up their third edition for 2024, covered by BBC Radio London, Woo, Bricks Magazine and Freeda and raising over 1k for LGBTQ+ anti-abuse charity Galop.
Alongside advocady work in the VAWG sector, recently skateboarding has become been a huge part of Cheer Up Luv founder, Eliza’s life over the past couple of years. It’s enabled her to grow in confidence, develop her skillset and connect with a new community of friends through content that reaches a global audience. It’s been such an important part of her world that Eliza is keen to connect as many people to the sport and the skateboarding community as she can.
After successfully hosting Cheer Up Luv’s first skate event for women and non-binary people last year at Hyde Park with Best Foot Forward Skate Academy, they are following up with an even bigger event to mark Go Skate Day 2024 and encourage more people to try it in a safe, supportive space.