UK Home Office Reopens Fund to Help Communities Tackle Hate Crime

UK’s Home Office has launched the latest round of the Hate Crime Community Projects Fund on Friday (19) which encourages community groups to come up with innovative solutions to counter hatred and prejudice.

The Hate Crime Community Projects Fund has been launched for the third year, so organisations in England and Wales could secure up to £75,000 to tackle hate crime, Home Office said.

The boost comes amid hate crime awareness week and following the government’s publication of the updated hate crime action plan, which set out new actions to tackle prejudice.

“The government is determined to stamp out hate crime and I know the power that local communities have in tackling hatred and prejudice,” said British minister for countering extremism Baroness Williams.

“That is why I am delighted to be able to launch the third year of the Hate Crime Community Projects Fund. I have seen first-hand how the fund has supported vital initiatives across the country and look forward to the new, innovative ideas to help promote our shared values, protect victims and tackle hate crime,” he added.

The Hate Crime Community Projects Fund was one of the commitments made by the government in its 2016 action plan, which was refreshed on Tuesday (16).

In the first two years, 16 projects covering all five of the monitored hate crime strands - race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and disability - have been awarded over £560,000 of funding.

Projects that have received funding include working with young transgender people who encounter abusive narratives online, using restorative justice techniques to challenge behaviours and attitudes of young people who had committed hate-related offences in Manchester and using British sign language to raise awareness of hate crime with deaf and deafened people.

On Monday (15), Baroness Williams visited Globe Primary School in Bethnal Green which has been supported by EqualiTeach, a beneficiary of the fund last year.

EqualiTeach worked with children and teachers from seven schools in Tower Hamlets to develop films and educational resources on anti-Muslim hate crime as well as strengthen existing systems to help pupils report hate crime and provide support for victims.

Sarah Soyei, Head of Strategy and Development for EqualiTeach, said, “the hate crime community projects fund was a vital tool, enabling EqualiTeach to work with young people over a period of 6 months, to empower them to be agents for change in their own schools and to develop free resources which will support teachers from across the country to educate about Islamophobia.”