Greater Manchester Hate Crime Awareness Week takes place from the 3rd to the 7th of February and is recognised each year by the ten boroughs that make up the Greater Manchester County, promoting a message of a county that is ‘Too Great for Hate’. Manchester is one of the most diverse cities in the UK with almost 200 languages spoken in the city; it is truly multi-ethnic, multi-faith, multicultural and multilingual. In Greater Manchester, hate crime affects individuals based on race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, transgender identity, and alternative subcultures with over 9,600 incidents recorded between September 2023 and August 2024. Many hate crimes still go unreported. It is time to take a stand against hate crime in Greater Manchester. Together, Manchester is showing that hate has no place here, and through unity, we can create a future where everyone is free to live without fear.

Our Greater Manchester Hate Crime Awareness Week resource contains an information sheet covering what hate crime is and how to report it. There are also three short lesson plans exploring banter, bullying, stereotypes and hurtful language – all things that can cause hurt and harm and lead to hate if left unchecked. We also talk about how Sophie’s murder was a hate crime.

Please feel free to download and if you do use our resource, please let us know by using the hashtag #WeAreSophie

We have recently been awarded a grant of £30,000 from the Fore Foundation to develop a new primary education resource. The Key Stage 2 resource will be developed to challenge prejudicial and intolerant language and behaviours being displayed by younger and younger pupils in school. Last year we were inundated with primary schools requesting support with resources along the lines of the S.O.P.H.I.E. workshop we offer to older pupils. This new resource will show that it is great that we are all different and have our own thoughts and opinions,  but we do need to be respectful to each other. We’d love any primary teachers to let us know more about prejudicial or intolerant language and behaviours they are currently seeing in school. Thanks to the Fore Foundation for the brilliant opportunity to develop this much-needed resource.

The Sophie Lancaster Foundation work with young people to change mindset about difference. We challenge the prejudicial language and behaviours that they use and display, particularly targeted at people who they think are different to them. We particularly focus on the language and behaviours that are displayed toward people from alternative subcultures. Our work, however, challenges all prejudice and intolerance and creates powerful learning opportunities for educational professionals to tackle what can be difficult conversations about difference, in a sensitive and supported way.

We currently deliver a successful secondary S.O.P.H.I.E. resource which is designed to challenge intolerant and prejudicial language and mindset. We understand that these behaviours are becoming more and more prevalent in primary schools and want to create a Key Stage 2 resource so we can start these conversations about difference earlier. We have recently been awarded a grant from the Fore Foundation to help us create this resource.

We would like to understand more about that prejudicial language and behaviours that school staff are finding challenging to deal with or are gaining traction in primary schools. We would also appreciate your thoughts on how social media is affecting the issue. Write as much, or as little, as you like. We genuinely appreciate any insight you can bring to our resource development.

Thank you.