We Are United Against Racism

We want to join with millions of other voices to thank the England Football team for a fantastic and hugely enjoyable tournament; one that brought us and the whole country together.  At the Trust youth work is at the top of our agenda and we are in awe of our England players as highly professional, dignified, and respectful ambassadors, many of them being so young themselves.

Our staff loved following the matches.  Our Finance Director Simon ran a brilliant sweepstake which was so much fun to be part of.  We cheered on and then commiserated with each other as each of ‘us’ were beaten.  All the while our excitement built as England progressed and stayed in the competition, with our CASS worker David holding the England sweepstake ticket.

In the end, David, as England, lost to Tracey our Finance Officer, as Italy!  Tracey was actually gutted to win the sweepstake and David, of course, gutted too.  Alongside the rest of our community and nation we were all gutted.

But the football had brought us together – there was camaraderie, humour, and a feeling of great excitement as, with each other, we followed England’s amazing progress and shared our hope for a win.  As a staff team we were just a microcosm of what was happening in families, groups, teams and organisations across the country, and what all of us had in common is that we were united.

For many of us this feeling of union was not simply because of the sport, but because, for the first time, we saw an England team which represented us and our values.  Seeing players use their platform to take a visible stand for causes such as anti-racism and LGBTQ pride has been powerful and inspiring for people of all ages.

As a Trust we understand that we are always learning how to do better; we strive to be a diverse organisation and one where racism is not tolerated anywhere we work or from anyone we work with.

The Euros may have ended but we continue to be united as we stand appalled by the racist backlash against the England football players; we stand against all racism – it has no place in society.

We are with all those who call out and put a stop to racism, wherever it is seen or heard.  We stand in solidarity with those fighting for equality and justice in all communities.

 

Please read more about our Youth work here>

Read our Black Lives Matter statement here>

Contact us to find out how we are learning about Diversity, email: info@southmead.org