Shropshire Council supports Show Racism the Red Card Day (21 October)
Shropshire Council staff are showing support to the national charity, Show Racism the Red Card, in what is a fourth year of activity.
Staff are being asked to take photos of themselves at work and at their workscreens to send in for a collage of images on the special screensaver that has been organised to operate as we head up to the national Wear Red Day itself, tomorrow (Friday 21 October 2022). Additionally, the Wear Red Day theme has been added to all staff online payslips this month.
Wear Red Day 2022
Lezley Picton, Leader of the Council, said:-
“This year’s Show Racism the Red Card theme, ‘Change hearts, change minds, change lives’, is very much complementary to the national Black History Month theme as well, ‘Time for Change: action not words. This starts with all of us, in the efforts that we can make as individuals, across the council and across our county, to recognise and tackle racism and other forms of discrimination wherever they occur.
“I am delighted to see the efforts being made by our staff, and I am proud to show my own support, along with Cabinet members, and to do our bit as Shropshire Councillors to seek to change hearts, change minds and change lives.”
Shropshire Council Leader and some Cabinet members
The aim of this year’s efforts is to spread across the whole county and help as many as people as possible to join in, wherever they are based in this very large and rural county. Group shots of people have been encouraged, along with cards and stickers, for facilities teams based across the county: whilst the message has gone out to all those working from home or in an office setting for the photos to be anything from people eating red velvet cake, wearing red ties or red tops, or posing with cats on red cushions, or dogs in red bows.
Shropshire Council’s chief executive, and executive directors
Keiran Brookes, Branch Secretary of Shropshire UNISON General Branch, added:-
“UNISON Shropshire General Branch are delighted that the council, in conjunction with UNISON, are continuing the highlighting of inequalities in society and injustice to groupings in our community with every opportunity, and supporting the National Wear Red Day to show racism the red card – and this is an excellent joint initiative.
“As a branch we would like to encourage all Shropshire Councillors and officers to wear red on Friday, or show their support in other ways, and in so doing help the council to play its part in helping Shropshire to truly become the welcoming inclusive place that we want it to be.”
Further information
The charity’s national fundraising and awareness day aims to unite the country and raise funds for anti-racism education for young people and adults, by inviting schools, businesses and individuals to donate and wear red for the day.
2021 marked the biggest Wear Red Day yet, and this year is already set to get even bigger with support from some of the country’s biggest names and companies.
The charity advises:-
“Over 400,000 participants have now been registered to celebrate with us.
“A Twitter storm is planned for 10.30am-12.30pm on Friday 21 October to push our hashtag of positivity (#WRD22) to the top of the trending list. We reached number 3 in the UK last year, which was our best result to date. If you could help us by joining in and tweeting / retweeting during that time using #WRD22 and #showracismtheredcard, it would be HUGELY appreciated.”
Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) is the UK’s leading anti-racism educational charity. It was established in January 1996, thanks in part to a donation by Shaka Hislop, the then Newcastle United goalkeeper. The charity provides educational workshops, training sessions, multimedia packages, and a whole host of other resources, all with the purpose of tackling racism in society. The organisation utilises the high-profile status of football and football players to publicise its message. Across Britain, Show Racism the Red Card delivers training to more than 50,000 individuals per year.
Shaka Hislop, Honorary President of SRtRC, said:-
“Wear Red Day remains a highlight on my own calendar. It’s a day when I get to witness a community coming together not otherwise seen, around the message of anti-racism. It’s a day where we are reminded of our own promise to our allies and supporters to continue to work to make this a more equitable world for all.”
