#SRtRCSpotlight: Southern team deliver workshops at ‘Lionesses First XI’ launch event at Emirates Stadium
Last week, Show Racism the Red Card’s Southern Region delivered a variety of club events, spanning all levels of English football. We facilitated events at five football clubs, covering much of our region, to KS2 and KS3 pupils. These events reached young people from North London, South-East London, West Essex, Suffolk and Hampshire.
Friday, the week prior, saw us deliver a club-event and launch our ‘Lionesses First XI’ Exhibition at the Emirates stadium, home of Premier League giants Arsenal Football Club. Sixty local pupils received an anti-racism workshop, explored the Emirates on a stadium tour and got to meet a host of Arsenal and England legends. In partnership with our Lionesses XI launch, pioneering Lionesses Rachel Yankey, Mary Phillip and Kerry Davis were joined by ex-Arsenal stars Paul Davis and Perry Groves in answering questions from our pupils. This was an incredible event and Arsenal was a fantastic opening event of the season, and helped start our Black History Month celebrations.
The following Monday, another ninety local pupils joined us at Roots Hall, home to Southend United. KS2 pupils participated excellently in our workshops and toured the stadium. They were then joined by club captain, Nathan Ralph and striker Andrew Dallas, who met with pupils and answered some questions about their experiences in the game, and shared guidance on how to safely challenge racism.
On Tuesday, a further ninety students joined us at Portman Road, home to Championship side Ipswich Town. First-team player, Darnell Furlong attended and engaged wonderfully with pupils and provided advice on how to handle incidents of racism, both on the field of play and in the classroom. Three stand-out students were given prizes, a set of matchday tickets for them to attend an Ipswich Town game this season.
On Thursday we visited The Valley, home to Championship team, Charlton Athletic FC.
Pupils performed brilliantly in our workshops and got to explore the stadium. They then met Charlton vice-chairman, and former footballer, Paul Elliot. He wowed pupils with stories of Maradona and expertly navigated some thought-provoking questions about how to safely recognise and challenge racism in different situations. Teacher, Mr Lewis, said
“This event with Charlton Athletic was absolutely brilliant and Jack expertly managed a tricky topic and some challenging questions, An incredible event with lots of value, and we hope to be invited to another in the future”.
The next Monday, we were back on the road, this time at Fratton Park, home to Portsmouth Football Club. In the morning, 100 KS3 students contributed wonderfully in the workshop, before taking part in our Changemakers activity, designing posters and thinking of fundraising ideas, to promote anti-racism in their schools. In the afternoon, 100 KS2 students arrived and engaged in our Fans of the Future session, before taking part in our Changemakers activity. They were the joined by Pompey star and Australian u-23 international, Jacob Farrell. Jacob skilfully panelled our Q+A and engaged wonderfully with pupils, navigating some challenging questions about racism. Star pupils received an official match-ball and a Premier League gift bag.
Educator and Club Event Lead, Jack Cunningham expressed,
“These recent events have been fantastic, speaking to a variety of children across our region, with exceptional and valuable support from partnering clubs. I have been so impressed with the knowledge and maturity of our young people, and inspired by many of our current and former professional players, who took time out of their busy schedules to engage with school pupils. We have events lined up with Premier League club Brentford, Championship side Watford and National League side Dulwich Hamlet in the next month and I look forward to them. I want to thank the Foundations and Community teams who continually collaborate with us and to all the current and former players who gave their time to join our events.”
In total, we delivered workshops to more than 500 pupils, from more than 20 schools, at five football clubs across the region. This has been a brilliant effort from the team and from our partner clubs, and has once more highlighted footballs commitment to anti-racism.
To find out more about the opportunities to engage Show Racism the Red Card in the South of England, please click the button below and use our enquiry form to provide us with your requirements.