School Competition Launch | England
Last week, SRtRC supporters gathered to launch our annual School Competition at the UNISON Headquarters. The event was attended by sponsors and supporters of the Competition with speakers including Kevin Courtney (NEU General Secretary), Sola Kasali (EA SPORTS), Simone Pound (PFA), Paul Elliott (Former Footballer) & hosted by Margret Greer (UNISON).
Margaret Greer opened the event with a strong message saying: “If you are tired of hearing about racism, imagine how tired you would be of experiencing it. So let’s get on with eradicating it from our society.”
Paul Kearns, SRtRC DCEO, spoke of the School Competition being about “young people taking ownership of the anti-racism message.”
Paul Elliott from the FA and Simone Pound from the PFA both spoke about the power of football to change attitudes and the impact of the work delivered by Show Racism the Red Card over the last 27 years.
Sola Kasali from EA Sports showcased the unique prize on offer for participants of having their Artwork featured as a TIFO in the FIFA 23 game and EA Sports’ continued support for the Competition.
And Kevin Courtney talked of how impactful previous winners have been as he saw first hand presenting prizes at their schools, the importance of anti-racism in the Trade Union movement and the impact that footballers and role models can have being involved in the anti-racism movement.
Watch Kevin’s speech below:
Attendees had the opportunity to view artwork from the 2022 Competition on display and watch a powerful multimedia piece by Clio, the overall winner of the Competition in 2021.
Margaret Greer closed a fantastic event by highlighting the importance of anti-racism education, school educational programmes and access to learning, so that young people know how to tackle racism. She reaffirmed UNISON’s support for SRtRC in this, and said long may it continue.
The SRtRC Competition has been running for 23 years and has become the largest equalities themed competition in the UK, with tens of thousands of young people registering to take part from hundreds of schools across England, Scotland and Wales.
The Competition is free to enter and open to young people of all ages and abilities.
Entrants can produce work in a wide-range of media, including artwork, creative writing, film and music. The entries are consistently inspirational and SRtRC makes sure that many have a resonance beyond the competition by using them in educational resources and magazines, on the campaign’s website, social media channels, YouTube and in a special calendar. All competition winners are invited to a special awards ceremony with prizes presented by special guests.
To find out more about the competition in your area, to register, and to download the information pack and guidelines for your region please click the button below.
