We are horrified by the abhorrent rioting of far-right extremists over recent days. There is no place for hate in our country, and we stand together with all the communities affected.  

We honour the memories of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, from Southport, as their families, friends and communities are grieving.   

We call upon local and national political leaders to stand up to the violent racist and Islamophobic extremism taking place and for colleagues working in criminal justice to bring every one of the rioters, arsonists, and violent attackers to justice. We call on them to recognise that this violence has not come about by chance, and represents the consequences of racist and anti-immigrant discourses and policies which have been perpetuated by large swathes of the media and political establishment for too long. 

Everyone deserves to feel safe and respected in our country, regardless of faith or background. People are now feeling the threat to their safety in the face of the violence, having to practice extreme hyper-vigilance, including not leaving their homes. 

 If you’ve been affected by any of the violence over the last few days, please report this to the police and seek support from community-based organisations. 

We are really proud of our work supporting refugees, asylum seekers and resettling communities and we will continue to work to raise awareness of, and amplify the voices of minoritised and marginalised communities across the U.K. and internationally. 

We will continue to champion diversity through our education and awareness programmes. To find out more, please visit our website. 

You can support our work by signing up to our mailing list or by donating to support our work with diverse communities.  

For further help and support please use this page:  

https://www.diversitytrust.org.uk/further-support/