FEBRUARY CAMPAIGN EVENT ROUND UP
During the month of February we have continued to promote our message of anti-racism and equality in society. Here is a round-up of some of our notable events in sporting clubs.
Working in partnership with the following clubs we have delivered workshops and educational resources to help young people understand the impact of racism and discrimination, focusing on the role of sport in promoting unity and respect.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Our campaign team were at the Molineux Stadium on the 8th of February to deliver a bespoke educational event. It was a successful event with young people taking part in our anti racism workshop. We were joined by Wolves 18 year old striker, Ethan Mcleod and former Wolves striker David Kelly.
Ethan Mcleod said after the event:
“I think it was a very good opportunity for me to talk about racism. It’s good for the children to understand that everyone is unique and come from different backgrounds, and it’s important to understand that everyone is different and accepted.
I haven’t experienced any racism but it’s because we’re educated. The people I’m around know to accept everyone and it’s good to be like that.”
David Kelly also added: “I’m an English-Irishman, born in England and played for Ireland.
My mum was English, my dad was Irish so this interests me and it’s great with the kids because there’s always a ‘banana skin’ question!
The educational part of it is key, because older people’s views are dying out now and we do live in a diverse country – we should accept people for who they are.Campaigns like No Room for Racism are massively important because look at the number of foreign players that are in the Premier League and lower leagues now.
This is the world we live in, there wasn’t room for racism before but there definitely isn’t now.”
Our campaign worker Seth Ejukwu added:
“The most important thing is getting the message out there, to campaign against racism, to make sure the young people understand that it’s not right and that we give them the tools to report it whenever they see it.”
Feedback for Show Racism the Red Card, Marnie Richards, senior schools’ officer with Wolves Foundation;
“Seth delivered a great session around different topics including allyship and then Ethan and David added some great insight around their own experiences. The pupils really listened and were engaged with the session as well as asking some very good questions.
We also had time for a stadium tour as well and the staff felt it was so valuable that they are keen to bring their other year groups when we do something similar again.”
The campaign train moved us to the ‘Worlds greenest football club’
Forest Green Rovers: This would be the first ever educational event with Forest Green Rovers FC and the Foundation Trust. On the 15th of February, over 30 young peoples from local schools around the community joined us for the event.
The pupils took part in our anti-racism, and hate crime workshops. They also toured ‘The New Lawn’ Home to Forest Green Rovers, before being joined by the Forest Green Rovers Women’s team coach, Tom. Tom spent some time answering questions around racism from the young people and telling them what the club would do if they ever saw or experience any racial incident at the club.
Finally, the campaign train stopped at the Vale Park Stadium, home to Port Vale FC.
Port Vale FC: On the 24th of February, our campaign team delivered the second educational event this season at the Vale Park Stadium in partnership with Port Vale and Port Vale FC Foundation.
We saw over 60 pupils from the Primary kick program join the event. We also had first team players Mal Benning and Aaron Donnelly join the panel to answer questions from the young people. Benning talked about his experience of racism growing up and how his parents helped him overcome the situation.
Overall, we’ve had a busy month for Show Racism the Red Card Campaign team, with events taking place across the UK on a range of issues. The organisation continues to play an important role in promoting anti-racism and equality, and its message is more important than ever in today’s increasingly diverse and multicultural society. Thank you to all our partners, Football clubs and Foundations for having us. Looking forward to next months events.
