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| The charity aims to raise awareness of prejudice against subcultures. Get in touch today with your experiences, opinions and messages of support. |
Official SOPHIE Merchandise
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I help?
The Sophie Foundation is about raising awareness, and whether you complete/hold a sponsored event for Sophie, or simply wear a SOPHIE wristband, you will be doing something very important.
The SOPHIE wristbands stand for Stamp Out Prejudice, Intolerance and Hatred Everywhere and are available to buy from the official Sophie merchandise site.
Many supporters of The Sophie Lancaster Foundation hold benefit gigs, concerts and other performances for Sophie. We will do our best to support these events – at the very least by featuring details on our website and myspace page (www.myspace.com/inmemoryofsophie).
Simply email details, links and any available images or logos to events@sophielancasterfoundation.com.
Cult make-up brand, Illamasqua - is selling the Sophie Eyeliner to raise essential funds - so we can continue with our crucial work of educating and campaigning for change.
Your ongoing support, donations - no matter how large or small - and your help in spreading the message of tolerance are all ways in which you can help, and it is greatly appreciated.
How will my donation be spent?
The bulk of the donations that the charity receives will be ploughed back into educational workshops. The SOPHIE workshops have been created to educate young people about subcultures and teach them how to be tolerant of people that belong to them.
Money will also be spent on the promotion of tolerance via events, sponsorship and materials.
The Sophie Lancaster Foundation is actively lobbying parliament to drive a change in the hate crime legislation to support and protect subcultures, and some funds will also be used to facilitate this ongoing drive.
What does subculture mean?
A subculture is a group of people with a culture (whether distinct or hidden) that differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.
Groups that are described as subcultures often include punk rockers, ravers, metalheads, goths, emo and indie. These cultures are largely peaceful by definition, and are more interested in music, alternative fashion and niche media than intimidation.
I’ve been a victim of attack. How do I report this?
The police view any kind of physical or threatening verbal attack as very serious, and are trained not to discriminate because of somebody’s appearance or beliefs.
We urge you to report any attacks you experience to your local police. Please – this is extremely important.
If you feel that an officer is not taking your complaints seriously, the police recommend you ask to speak to the line manager of that person. There is also a grievance procedure, where you can complain in writing. Your local police force will provide you with relevant details.
We are collecting feedback on how people who belong to subcultures are treated when reporting an attack on them (unprovoked, because of the way they look), so would be interested to hear of you experiences, positive or negative. Any data we collect will be presented to the police. Please email us - feedback@sophielancasterfoundation.com.