Hi John,

Thanks to the support of HOPE Education Fund members, we’re able to use the excitement of the Euro Championships, which start this week, to talk to young people about hateful language and what they can do to counter it. Because it’s thanks to supporters like you that we can provide this support, I wanted to tell you a bit about what we’re doing.

But first, I should say, if you’re a teacher, you can get this class plan and video to use with your students totally free of charge. All you need to do is register here.

I know it’s not for everyone but I love football (despite the hopeless travails of my team Ipswich). I love the game itself, but as HOPE not hate education and training director, it’s a great tool for connecting with young people.

Football is the beautiful game, but its relationship with racism is anything but. Over the decades, social problems have made their way onto the terraces, and it's no different today. Even in a time when we won’t see full houses at the championships, the nasty elements within our society can make their hateful voices heard via social media.

Children can often get stuck in the middle of this. Sport is often their first venture into adult spaces and some of the unsavoury characters that lurk online can upset and hurt those most impacted by racism, and draw others into developing hateful views.

This is why HOPE not hate has created a video lesson resource to help teachers in classes to directly challenge the impact of ‘low-level’ discriminatory language online.

This is one part of our Education programme which sees our team of educators in classes, week-in-week-out, supporting teachers and speaking directly to students. And we do it all completely free-of-charge to schools.

If you’re a teacher and you’d like to get these resources for your school, it’s easy – just register here. 

I know not everyone who supports us is a teacher, but we wanted to let you know what we’re up to in schools. This is a key part of our work to counter the far right and all the forces of hate that seek to divide us. Thanks to you all, our work is going from strength to strength. 

Best wishes,

Owen

Owen Jones
Director of Education & Training