Cheshire East prepares for hate crime awareness week

 

Cheshire East Council is backing a national campaign to make the public aware of hate crime.

The national hate crime awareness week will run from October 8 to October 15 and the focus point in Cheshire East will be an event held on the market square outside Macclesfield Town Hall on Wednesday October 12.

Hate crime is any criminal offence committed against a person or property that is motivated by an offender’s hatred of someone because of their race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or any other personal characteristic.

The event on Wednesday October 12– hosted by Cheshire East Council and supported by the NHS, Public Health England, Barnado’s and Cheshire police – will provide opportunities for people to share their experiences in a supportive network.

The campaign’s aims are to provide a focus to raise awareness, encourage reporting, promote local support services and to look at ways of working collaboratively to prevent hate crime.

As well as providing an opportunity for people to meet and talk to colleagues from Cheshire East’s safeguarding team, there will be a chance to see a performance of a spoken word piece called ‘Stop adult abuse’ which was based on a poem created by one of the authority’s service user groups.

Councillor Paul Bates, Cheshire East Council Cabinet member for communities and health, said: “It is vital that people continue to report hate crime and that awareness of this social challenge is raised.”

“It is more important than ever that we treat everyone with dignity and respect. Taking a prominent role in the national hate crime awareness week is a clear sign of this Council’s intentions.”

Rose Simkins, chief executive of Stop Hate UK, said: “We wholeheartedly support the national hate crime awareness week and we would encourage people to show their support to the many people affected by hate crime.

“Although every week is hate crime awareness week for Stop Hate UK, the week gives others the opportunity to show their support for this vital work and for us all to work closer together.”

The week’s events begin in London with a service of hope and remembrance at St Paul’s Cathedral,where lives that have been lost to hate crime will be reflected upon. To find out more about the week and how you can get involved, please visit: http://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/environment/community_safety/hate_crime.aspx