#SRtRCSpotlight: Changemakers with Newport County and The Dragons

On February 19, 2025, Rodney Parade played host to an inspiring Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) Change Makers Club Day. The event, organised in collaboration with Newport County and The Dragons, brought together two local primary schools, Maindee and St. Joseph’s, for a day of education, reflection, and action against racism.

The young participants took part in a carousel of activities designed to deepen their understanding of racism and how to combat it before moving on to the changemaker challenge. These included:

• Introduction to Racism – Exploring fundamental questions: What is racism? What does it look like today? How can we challenge and respond to racist incidents?
• Stadium Tour – A behind-the-scenes look at Rodney Parade, home to both Newport County and The Dragons.
• Physical Activity Session – A fun and energetic session led by County in the Community, promoting teamwork and inclusivity through sport.

Dean Pymble, SRtRC Campaign Manager Wales, shared his thoughts on the event:

“It’s inspiring to see young people engage so deeply in these discussions and come up with actionable solutions. Their enthusiasm and commitment to challenging racism in their communities give me great hope for the future.”

The Changemakers Challenge

The highlight of the day was the Changemakers Challenge, where the young people were tasked with developing real-world ideas to help eradicate racism and foster an inclusive and anti-racist environment in their schools and communities. After working together to create innovative solutions, the young participants presented their ideas to an esteemed panel featuring:

• Dean Pymble – SRtRC Campaign Manager Wales
• Ashton Hewitt– Welsh Rugby player for the Dragons
• Bobby Kamwa – 1st Team footballer for Newport County

Following the presentations, there was a Q&A session with the panel, further expanding their understanding of how to effect meaningful change.

Bobby Kamwa, reflecting on his experience at the event, expressed his enthusiasm and hope for its continuation. He shared:

“I’ve really enjoyed this type of thing to get involved and I just hope it carries on going forward and I would go back and tell my teammates that I went to this event and it was amazing and they will pick up for it and want to do the same thing”

Ashton Hewitt, states the importance of teaching anti-racism to the younger generation:

“It’s massively important it keeps (the event) the conversation at the forefront of everyone’s minds as we can see today, the kids are thinking actively and working on their own ideas to address and challenge racism, and that’s what we need we need kids thinking about Racism because you know my experiences myself as a young person experiencing racism teachers not really understanding it you not understand any really yourself and then not only that deal with it so it’s massive that we got to support and you can just be encouragement to keep thinking about it coming up with solutions”

Eleri Jackson, Community & Clubs Officer of the Dragons & Deiniol Parselle, Head of Health & Education County in the Community, highlighted the importance of this collaboration:

“I think the day as a whole has been really beneficial so I think obviously having our name (The Dragons) out there and our involvement with Show Racism the Red card (as) racial incidents are becoming more prominent within sports, especially within rugby and the communities we work in”

“We want kids from across the city to be discussing (racism) and us (Newport County and the Dragons) to bridge the gap and work together to bring benefits to the city as a whole and to combat racism”

Miss Nawaz from Maindee Primary expressed:

“The children have had a lovely time today they’ve had some time spending time with each other in different classes they have learnt lots about racism and they’ve learned about how to combat that but also come up with the ideas that they contribute within school but also the wider community”

If you would like to experience one of our anti-racism workshops & your school is based in Wales, get in touch with our team today!