Four Derby schools joined the Derby County Community Trust at Pride Park Stadium earlier this week for their annual Show Racism the Red Card event, organised with Derby City Council.
Showcasing the event on the EFL Day of Action, where all EFL clubs come together and demonstrate their impact on the local community, this year’s event focused on education around recognising and combatting racial discrimination.
Pupils from The Bemrose School, Ashwood Spencer Academy, St James’ Juniors and Dale Community Primary School attended the event in the Dave Mackay Lounge.
After taking part in workshops led by Show Racism the Red Card, Derbyshire Police and Got Your Back, Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner and Derby County Community Trust, the event culminated in a Q&A with prominent industry figures.
Liam Rosenior, Specialist First Team Coach at Derby County, and first-team defender Max Lowe joined Olivia Mitcham, Kira Rai and Nikki Ledgister from Derby County Football Club Women, Hardyal Dhindsa, Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire and former Scotland international Chris Iwelumo, ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card, to take part in a question and answer session.
Questions were composed by the pupils from their experiences of the day and the best ones were rewarded with Derby County match tickets.
Important answers from the panel gave the pupils advice from personal experience and touched on the importance of reporting racism and who to talk to if you witness any form of hate crime.
Speaking on an incident earlier in his career, Rosenior said: “You can use bad things as a positive to get better. I made decisions when I was younger that I now know weren’t the best way to deal with things and being educated is the best way to progress.”
Ledgister also added her thoughts based on personal experience, saying: “When I was younger I maybe didn’t realise that certain things were racist or offensive, so it’s really important that school kids are being educated on these topics.”
Other important figureheads including the Mayor, Frank Harwood, joined the event which is ran by Show Racism the Red Card, Derby County Community Trust and Derby City Council annually.
For more information on the Community Trust’s work in Derby and Derbyshire, please see derbycountycommunitytrust.com.