What happened before 17-24-30?
17-24-30 No To Hate Crime Campaign was started by Mark Healey with the support of Ryan Parkins back in April 2009 to mark the 10th anniversary of the London Nail Bomb attacks on Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho.
Mark use to drink in the Admiral Duncan before it was blown up, and afterwards volunteered to help on the Police van that was parked in Old Compton Street to help provide information and support to members of the LGBT community who were affected by what happened. He was involved in the formation of the first Westminster LGBT Forum which was set up to improve relations between the Metropolitan Police Service, Westminster Council and the LGBT community, and helped influence the development of the Westminster Community Safety Plan 1999-2002 which was revised in May 2000 to include the Westminster LGBT Forum.
“As the chair of this local borough forum I was keen to improve relations between the police, Westminster Council and the LGBT community. The Crime and Disorder Act 1988 established a statutory duty on local authorities to produce local plans to tackle crime, which should of course include a strategy to tackle what we now refer to as “hate crimes”; including Race crime, homophobic attacks and domestic violence. I chaired the forum until 2003 and during this time we looked at a number of projects to reduce hate crime in Westminster. This included raising awareness, improving reporting routes, and reducing the incidence of repeat victimisation. We set up a Homophobic Incident Review Panel to look at incidents that were taking place in the borough. I was involved in the Gold group that was set up to investigate the hate mail received by the LGBT Liaison Officers at West End Central Police station and came up with the idea of the Blue Ribbon campaign so members of the LGBT community could show it’s support to the police officers who were being subjected to homophobic abuse. One officer had a phial of petrol sent to him in the post and his car was scratched down the side whilst parked in the police car park.”
Two articles about the Blue Ribbon Campaign featured in the Pink Paper 19 Jan 2001
During these years Mark worked in voluntarily capacity on behalf of the LGBT community with the police to develop the role of the LGBT liaison Officers. He attended numerous Soho Neighbourhood Ward panels, the Westminster Community Police Engagement Group, and various Westminster meetings (including the consultation to set up Westminster CCTV).
“We helped to develop the role of the LGBT officers and build better relationships with the local LGBT community. To this day Westminster MPS still has a full-time LGBT Liaison Officer, an important role and resource which we have had to fight to protect. I worked with PC Keith Lynwood, PC Billie Simmons, PC Andy Rickets and the current LGBT Liaison Officer PC Tatjana Arsoba. Over the years, working in partnership together we have seen a significant increase in hate crime reporting as we have improved the LGBT communities confidence in the police. Work I wish to continue and develop across all of the hate crime strands.”
The nail bomb of April 1999 were targeted against the Black, Asian and Gay communities of London in the belief that they would stir up fear and hatred that would lead to a race war. Luckily the bomber’s plan backfired but not before he had killed three people and injured many more.
Six years later Mark read an article in Gay Times (April 2009) which basically suggested that the anniversaries of the nail bomb attacks caused pain and suffering, that the community didn’t care and therefore we should stop gathering to mark the anniversaries of these attacks and play them down.
“This really made me angry – how could one group of people make this decision on behalf of all those involved without any consultation? You would have at least thought that they would have asked the families of those who died, or held some form of public consultation with the communities affected by these attacks – but no they didn’t. A small group of people made a decision on behalf of everyone else because they thought that was best – I could not have disagreed with them more. To me if there are people who are experiencing pain and suffering because of the anniversaries of these attacks – then we – the wider community have a duty to stand with them in their hour of need. If we forget what happened then it is likely that we will stop being vigilant and what happened will happen again. It is a sad fact that there is still a lot of hate in the world but we won’t defeat it by playing these anniversaries down – we need to remember those lost, we need to be more vocal about what happened, we need to provide the support required and educate our communities so that we can all live in harmony with each other”
Mark recognised that the London nail bomb attacks provided an opportunity to work with three communities affected by hate crime and start the process of bringing them closer together. He set up the Facebook group 17-24-30. Taking the dates of the three nail bombs to make up the name of the group. 17th April, 24th April and 30th April – symbolically joining the three dates, the three communities affected by hate crime together.
“I was thinking of 9/11 and 7/7 when I came up with the name 17-24-30. If you say these dates people know immediately what you are talking about, I wanted people to automatically recognise what 17-24-30 stands for. When people hear the name 17-24-30 No To Hate Crime Campaign I want them to know that we are talking about the three nail bombs which were targeted at the black, Asian and Gay communities of London and that our goal is to bring these and other communities closer together to eliminate hate crime.”
“I set the 17-24-30 group up on Facebook and within a couple of days people started joining the group to offer their support. In the first month over 2,000 liked the group which was good because I knew that there were other people like me who cared about what happened and wanted to show their support”
The founding of the 17-24-30 No To Hate Crime Campaign, in April 2009 marked the 10th anniversary of the London Nail Bomb attacks on Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho.
Mark mocked up the “Soho Remembers 17-24-30/Facebook” poster below and printed a batch of 100 posters which he distributed around Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho.
“I was a bit nervous at first, going from shop to shop speaking to the business owners but the majority of them supported what I was doing and displayed the posters in their windows. Several of them shared their experiences of what happened and I soon realised that many people still need to share their experiences. This has been confirmed so many times in so many conversations that I have had over the years.”
Mark and Ryan spent much of April 2009 promoting 17-24-30 handing out cards to signpost the group that had been set up on Facebook. At the same time Mark started researching organisations to promote through the group.
“It was really important to me that we signposted the services that were available to provide people with the advice and support they required. That is why I have always made sure we promote Galop and the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard. There was and still is a lot of networking and outreach to be done.”
It is also important to realise that some people don’t want to talk about their experiences, some people have moved on with their lives and that’s fine. People have to do what is right for them. It one of the reasons why we don’t actively approach survivors because we don’t want to stir up any bad feelings that they may have forgotten or left behind. Everyone is welcome to get involved in what we do but it is up to them to approach us on their own terms if and when they feel ready rather than the other way around. This has become one of the guiding principles of the 17-24-30.
Soho Act of Remembrance 2014
“My original conception of the group was simply to help organise and facilitate the April acts of Remembrance #AAR and help those affected by hate crime. In essence to take the burden of organsing these events off those who were affected by these events so that they could focus on whatever they needed to do to overcome their own situations. At the same time I wanted to give people a chance to show their support which is why we invited everyone who wanted to come along to join us for the service in St Anne’s Gardens. The thinking behind this was that each year the original group of those gathering in the gardens would naturally get smaller and smaller and I thought by inviting new people to come along we could educate them about what happened whilst at the same time making sure that those left from the original group remained connected to the wider community. I couldn’t bare the thought that anyone who needed the communities support could be left isolated facing the anniversaries on their own and that was the way things were heading back then.”
The 17-24-30 Facebook group was originally founded to;
- Remember those lost. The three people who died during the Soho bombing including Nik Moore, John Light and Andrea Dykes who was with child at the time, and David Morley – who survived the Soho bombing but was killed during a so-called “happy slapping” attack the South Bank.
- Show support to those injured and affected by these attacks,
- Bring people together to tackle all forms of hate crime,
- and to facilitate the April acts of Remembrance marking the three anniversaries each year.
“Some people were wary of me to begin with. They quite rightly questioned why I was doing what I was doing. The fact is I have also been a victim of bullying and hate crime many times. As a child I was bullied continuously almost every day at school, then later as a young gay man I was once dragged into an alley and kicked and punched to the ground whilst my partner just froze – he just didn’t know what to do. A year later I was in the same position myself – I watched my partner being attacked by a lad wearing a crash helmet but this time my reaction was to fight back. I remember knocking the attacker to the ground and struggling with him, eventually I pulled off his crash helmet and hit him with it thinking “now you know what it is like to hit someone with a crash helmet on”. My partner and I then ran away and when we got back to my partners flat I realised I had cut my hand (I had been holding a can of coke when the attacker attacked us and I guess I had just squeezed the ring pull into my hand in shock of what was happening). I don’t condone violence at all but sometimes I think you have to make a stand and defend the people you love. We were lucky we got away relatively unscathed but I know others have not been so lucky which is why I always advise people to think of their own safety first – call the police – let them deal with it instead of just jumping in – because you never know how things will turn out. Thankfully the guy who attacked us didn’t have any weapons and I caught him off-guard when I tackled him.”
Ian Baynham for example was not so lucky. He challenged those who were making homophobic remarks and a single punch left him on the floor battling for his life. A battle he unfortunately lost.
In September 2009, 62 year old Ian Baynham was homophobically abused in Trafalgar Square by three people. When he stopped to challenge their homophobic remarks he was punched once with so much force it knocked him to the ground where he hit his head, he was then kicked repeatedly as he lay unconscious on the floor. He died later from the injuries that he sustained.
“Looking back at what happened to Ian Baynham I often wonder how differently things could have been if any of the people who walked passed the people beforehand had taken a moment to call the police and let them deal with the situation. The sad thing is the area is covered by CCTV and the local police station (Charring Cross Police Station) is only minutes away – if only someone had made that call to flag up concerns before things escalated the way they did. We can’t change what happened to Ian but we can get people to think about making that call to the police next time they encounter homophobia on the streets. A simple phone call to 101 might just be the call that prevents someone else from being seriously attacked!”
In the two weeks following Ian’s death 17-24-30 assisted by Pride London, Pink Punters,Galop and a number of community minded volunteers organised the first London Vigil Against Hate Crime which over 10,000 people attended in Trafalgar Square and over 29,000 people shared the event online.
“Some fantastic people got behind what we were doing straight away; Gary Henshaw from the KU Bar gave us a place to meet for free and we organised a series of meetings to organise the volunteers who came forward. People like Trevor White, Pete Manley, Emma White, Chris Flaherty, Martine Whitaker (from Pride London) and her partner Sonia, Gaby Charring and her partner Liz Day, Tony Green who was our first press officer, Robert Brown, Neil Levitan, Wendyl Harris, Ali Press, Glyn Green, Kevin Wilson, Mark Mckenzie, Anthony Townsend, Martin Brophy, Roger Desouches and his partner Richard, Ricky Gellissen, Graham Bonnell and many others.”
“Everyone put aside their differences and worked together with the single-minded focus of making the first London Vigil against Hate Crime happen for Ian Baynham. Hannah Dee (author of The Red in the Rainbow) commented that “These protests sent a strong message to the bigots that there would be no turning back, no return to the closet, and they represented the biggest street mobilisations against homophobia outside of the Pride season for a decade. This was impressive given that the vigils and the Liverpool demo had been initiated by individuals”. More importantly, they showed Ian Baynham’s family that our communities cared about what had happened to him – Jenny Baynham told me afterwards that she has shown a video of the London Vigil to Ian’s mum who had commented “at least they cared about him” – that to me was what mattered most – we did what we did to stand up for Ian”
Messages of support were received from around the world, including from Stuart Milk the Nephew of Harvey Milk – and others messages of support from across the political spectrum including the Mayor of London Boris Johnson. We got s lot of positive coverage in the LGBT media.
Mark Healey and Stuart Milk (Nephew of Harvey Milk)
“Right from the start I realised that it was important that we had cross party and cross community support. What we were doing needed to be inclusive so everyone who wanted to be involved could be involved. I wrote to all the political parties to ask for their support and am glad to say that it was forthcoming with messages of support from the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the other main political parties. All I asked was that people put aside their differences, set aside their banners and join us as people all united under the same objective of bringing an end to all forms of hate crime.”
30th October 2009 over 10,000 people gather for London Vigil against Hate Crime
17-24-30 continued to organise the London Vigil against Hate Crime until 2012, with support from the Harvey Milk Foundation, whilst a number of other vigils against hate crime where organised around the UK to mark what has become an International Day of Hope and Remembrance for those affected by hate crime.
“I have Sandy Toskvig to thank for the idea of having an International Day of Hope and Remembrance. She kindly agreed to act as our first host at the first London Vigil against Hate Crime and mentioned the idea whilst she was on stage. It fitted perfectly with what we were trying to achieve and each year since the day has been marked by a series of vigils against hate crime around the UK”.
Mark Healey with Sandy Toskvig
Originally the International Day of Hope and Remembrance was scheduled to take place on the closest Saturday to Halloween but has since been moved forward to the third Saturday in October. This is because we realised that police resources were already too stretched with Halloween and Guy Fawkes night.
“That first vigil was amazing, to begin with I was expecting about 500 people to show up but within a short space of time I realised that there were so many people who wanted the attacks to stop. Over 10,000 people supported the first London Vigil against Hate Crime in London and we got messages of support from around the world. I remember Sue Perkins reading out the list of all the people we had lost and I think it was then that I realised what we had achieved. Stephen K Amos even popped down to join us at the end of the event – London is not for messing with he said with more colourful language”.
Stephen K Amos and Mark Healey
The London Vigil against Hate Crime gave us a brilliant platform to work in partnership with a number of key partners, community organisations and individuals who are all doing great work to tackle hate crime.
We have worked with, signposted and promoted organisations including; Galop, Gires, Disability Hate Crime Network, London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, A Day in Hand, LGBT History Month, Schools Out, Inclusion For All, Celebrate & Educate, UK Black Pride, National Union of Students LGBT Campaign, Stop Hate UK, London Gay Men’s Choir, Pink Singers, Diversity, London Pride, Harvey Milk Foundation, Give Em Hope Foundation, Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime, Greater London Authority, Metropolitan Police Service, St Paul’s Cathedral and Victim Support amongst others!
Some of the amazing speakers at the London Vigil have included; Sandy Toksvig, David Watkins, Richard Barnes (Deputy Mayor of London/Conservative), MP Chris Bryant and MP Angela Eagle (Labour), Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrat), London Assembly Member Darren Paul Johnson (Green), Jonathan Simpson (when he was the Mayor of Camden), Rikki Beadle-Blair, Stephen K Amos, Claire Dimyon, Rev Claire Herbert, Deborah Gold, Elly Barnes, Stuart Milk, Lady Phyll Opuko, Bisi Alimi, Anne Novis, Beverley Smith, Rose Simkins, Vicki Baars, Alan Bailey, Paul Burston, Finn McGoldrick, Tony Fenwich, Sue Sanders, Natasha Kennedy, Tessa Hauke, Martha M Dunkley, David Watters, and Peter Tatchell amongst others!
And we have worked with some incredible volunteers! The London Gay Men’s Chorus, The Pink Singers, The Diversity Choir all provided their services for free. Ryan liaised with a group of BSL signers (including Martin Fox-Rogers, other names to be added here) and Pink Punters continued to give us invaluable support. New people like Jennie Oliver-Johnston joined the team whilst others left. As you can imagine there were disagreements behind the scenes similar to those that have taken place in other community organisations. One particular cause of dissent within the group was that the Greater London Authority banned us from using candles in Trafalgar Square – some thought we should demand this decision be overturned but the only way forward at the time seemed to be to go with the proposal that we use LED candles (which we have since lent to the organisers of the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance that takes place in London on the 20th November each year).
“Raising unrestricted funds is vital for the work we are doing because it enables us to pay for the equipment we need and has enabled us to support other hate crime initiatives. We recently funded 20,000 hate crime reporting cards in Lambeth which have helped increase hate crime reporting in the borough. When the two plaques went missing (the Soho plaque in St Anne’s Gardens and the Jody Dobrowski plaque on the bench dedicated to his memory on Clapham Common), we were able to ensure that these plaques were replaced immediately. Being able to purchase a small PA system has enabled us to improve the Soho act of Remembrance – making sure that the service can be heard by those that attend, and each year we pay the travel costs of the person or persons lighting the national candle of hope and remembrance at St Paul’s Cathedral”.
Each year 17-24-30 had raised between £1,000 to £4,500 to fund it’s work by organising a series of fundraising events. We did a bucket collection around the LGBT venues in Soho and have had a lot of support from the Two Brewers, The Royal Vauxhall Tavern and The Eagle in Lambeth. We also raised some funds at an event at the Rose and Crown in Greenwich and Two8Six in Lewisham.
“We have to recognise the wonderful support we have had from all the LGBT bars in Soho, Nathan at the Rose and Crown, Stephen at Two8Six, Jason at the RVT, Mark at The Eagle, Kurt at The Eagle, Tim at Tonker, Jimmy at The Two Brewers and Angel at the . The drag queens performing at these venues include; Estee Applaudher (Michael Joyce who was tragically killed in a car accident), Charlie Hides/Kandi Cane Baxter, Sandra, Miss Jason, Son ofa Tutu, Lady Imelda, La Voix, Tanya Hide, Mrs Moore, Baga Chips, Miss Lolo Lasagne, Rose Garden, CK Sunday and Crytsal Dcanter. Not to forget the contributions made by other performers including singers Paul Jospeh and Maxine Factor, and poet Trudy Howson. We are all truly grateful.”
We are already planning our next fundraising event which will take place at the Two Brewers on Sunday 18th October from 6pm to midnight, Jimmy is booking acts now and we are planning to invite all of the performers who have worked with us previously to join us for a celebration of the end of this year’s hate crime awareness week.
Like our “Hate Crime it’s No Joke” Fundraiser event page on Facebook (click here for more details)
One of the new principles that emerged was that we would use the funds we raised to purchase equipment to enable us to facilitate the London Vigil each year and that we would make this equipment available to other events as well. We provided equipment to support the London Dyke March organised by Emila Holiday.
“All the work that we do with 17-24-30 is dedicated to the memory of those we have lost through acts of hate. Remembering people who have been killed or injured is one of our primary principles.”
One thing that had been said which is quite challenging to deal with is “that no one is interested in raising money for dead people”. Whilst it may be true that there are no funders who provide money for vigil events this really underestimates the true value of the anti-hate crime work we are doing and misses the point of our work – not just to remember those who have lost their lives through acts of hate and those who have been seriously injured but also to keep the memory of these people alive through our work tackling all forms of hate crime. We are making sure that these people are remembered in everything we do, and that we continue to stand with and support those who have been affected by hate crime – which remains central to our work.
We must learn from these hateful attacks on members of our communities and think carefully how we encourage people to work together.
This October is the 10th anniversary of the homophobic murder of Jody Dobrowski on Clapham Common and it is just as important today to remember his name along with all the other people who have been killed and injured over the years. // // <meta http-equiv=”refresh” content=”0; URL=/mhealey.home/posts/10207151068316690:0?_fb_noscript=1″ /> Organising fund raising events enables us to get the importance of our hate crime across, to inform communities what hate crime is and how to prevent it, and also empowering them to protect themselves.<meta http-equiv=”X-Frame-Options” content=”DENY” />//
The funds we have raised have not only helped pay for a memorial bench on the common in Jody’s memory but has also meant that when the plaque was stolen from the bench we were able to replace it. We were also able to get the plaque in Soho replaced when that went missing too. The money raised has helped us fund hate crime campaigns – the practical stuff – like the posters and leaflets we have distributed to bars, the hate crime reporting cards that I and others have distributed at numerous events (Pride, the Big Gay Picnic, UK Black Pride, along with those handed out at Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho). The hate crime reporting cards alone have helped signpost living people to the advice and support that they need. It has enabled some of us to go to hate crime conferences, paid the travel expenses of victim’s families so they can join us at St Paul’s. It has meant we can purchase equipment to do our work – the pa system so those speaking can be heard, the hi vis vests so our stewards are visible, the led candles, and the costs of storing this equipment so we can lend it out to the annual Trans Remembrance Day and the London Dyke march, the t-shirts and badges that help promote our campaign. Helping us get the message across about why we need to work together to tackle all forms of hatred in our communities.
Yes it is challenging raising funds to tackle hate crime but it is not just about raising money to remember dead people – it is about keeping their memory alive, supporting those who have been affected by hate crime and preventing others from being killed.
How the 17-24-30 Logo was envisioned by Sebastian Aird
In 2010, 17-24-30 was registered as a small charity with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customers (HMRC) reference XT30898. The wonderful Sebastian Aird who designed our original No to Hate Crime logos and posters came up with the design pictured above for 17-24-30. It is based upon the dates of the three attacks, showing the two Saturdays and the Friday as linked squares as they would appear on a calendar.
In the same year Mark connected with Voluntary Action Westminster who provided free advice and training on how to develop the organisation. They helped us come up with following pyramid showing how our aims and objectives fit in with our overall ambition to stop all forms of hate crime.
In 2012, 17-24-30 launched the first National Hate Crime Awareness Week with a special act of remembrance and renewal at St Paul’s Cathedral during which the National candle of Hope and Remembrance for those affected by hate crime was introduced for the first time.
The organisation seeks support from all communities affected by hate crime and encourages people to do what they can in their own communities to work with their local councils, local police and local community and business organisations to raise awareness of hate crime.
The week provides an opportunity for people to host a variety of events and activities – to raise awareness of hate crime, to look at how hate crime can be prevented, to encourage people to report what they experience, to signpost support services and to improve the local authorities and the communities responses to hate crime.
17-24-30 has continued to seek and receive cross party political support, each year receiving letters of support from the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and leaders of other parties. In 2014 Doreen Lawrence wrote to add her support along with the Minister for Crime Prevention. The organisation encourages people to add their messages of support via their social networking profiles on Twitter and Facebook and has adopted the use of the hashtags #NHCAW, #NationalHCAW #NoPlaceForHate #SafePlaceForAll and #WeStandTogether.
Each year a National Candle of Hope and Remembrance for those affected by hate crime is lit in St Paul’s Cathedral. The candle is lit by the families of those who has been lost due to acts of hate.
In 2012 Peggy and Carolyn Moore lit the candle in memory of Nik Moore – killed in the Soho bombing April 1999.
In 2013 Jenny Baynham and friends lit the candle in memory of Ian Baynham – who died after a homophobic attack in September 2009.
In 2014 Sylvia Lancaster lit the candle in memory of her daughter Sophie Lancaster – a Goth who died after a hate crime attack in August 2007. Syliva founded the Sophie Lancaster Foundation to tackle hate crime directed at members of alternative sub-cultures.
This year Saturday 10th October 2015 Maz Saleem has been invited to light the candle in memory of her father Mohammed Saleem – murdered in a racist Islamaphobic terrorist attack in April 2013. His attacker also targeted three mosques in the West Midlands with a bombing campaign (luckily no one else was injured by his attacks which were inspired by the same racist propaganda that inspired the nail bomber who targeted Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho.
This year for the second year in a row, the week is organised by 17-24-30 No To Hate Crime Campaign in partnership with Stop Hate UK.
Stop Hate UK started life in 1995 as a service for victims of racial harassment in response to the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The Stop Hate line launched in 2006 and the organisation relaunched as Stop Hate UK in 2007. Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon OBE, of Clarendon in the Commonwealth Realm of Jamaica remains a patron of Stop Hate UK.
Stop Hate UK works alongside local strategic partnerships to tackle Hate Crime and discrimination, encourage reporting and support the individuals and communities it affects. We provide a toolkit to help improve local responses to Hate Crime and an alternative for people who do not wish to report Hate Crime to the police or other statutory agencies. Our helplines enable people to access independent support and information, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
In 2013 Stop Hate UK launched Stop Learning Disability Hate Crime, a service for England and Wales, which is funded by the Ministry of Justice. Stop Learning Disability Hate Crime provides support to people affected by Learning Disability Hate Crime, whether as a victim, a witness or third party.
In January 2015, Stop Hate UK launched the Stop Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Hate Crime Line, funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, across England, Scotland and Wales on 0808 801 0661. The LGB&T line provides information, advice, support and telephone-based advocacy to LGB&T people who are experiencing Hate Crime or incidents as a result of their identity or perceived identity. Witnesses of incidents can also report and receive support via the helpline.
Stop Hate UK has organised a Survey Monkey survey to find out what people know about the National Hate Crime Awareness Week and to welcome ideas on how it can be improved.
St Paul’s Cathedral have agreed to host the launch event for the week for the next two years – confirming dates for the 10th October 2015 and the 8th October 2016. The week has settled into a pattern, taking place between the second and third Saturday in October each year.
This is important because for the first time we have been able to start planning ahead for these events way in advance and can start inviting key people a lot earlier, and build up more momentum for our anti-hate crime campaign. Momentum which we hope will eventually lead to every politician, every council, every police service and every community affected by hate crime getting involved.
The Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime have included “Action 2 – MOPAC will work with partners to develop a London-wide hate crime awareness campaign leading up to Hate Crime Awareness Week 2015″ in their new MOPAC Hate Crime Reduction Strategy.
Mark Healey has been invited to sit on the newly formed London Hate Crime Paneland the London Hate Crime Delivery Group which will oversee the delivery of the strategy’s 29 objectives. It is hoped that most of these objectives will be met in time for this year’s National Hate Crime Awareness Week – and the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime has been invited to speak at St Paul’s to give us an update on how things are progressing.
On the 23rd June 2015 the Prime Minister David Cameron awarded Mark the#PointsofLight award for the voluntary work he has done setting up the 17-24-30 No To Hate Crime Campaign and starting the National Hate Crime Awareness Week. The Prime Minister announced the award by tweeting it from the 10 Downing Street twitter account.
Prime Minister’s Tweet awarding Mark Healey #PointsofLight award
Prime Minister David Cameron said:
“As Prime Minister I am personally committed to tackling hate crime, prejudice and discrimination in all its forms. It has no place in our country and I immensely grateful to Mark for all that he has done. As we look forward to this year’s Pride in London – which is another cornerstone of national commitment to tackling prejudice – I am proud to recognise all that Mark has achieved. He truly is a Point of Light.”
Mark said:
“I am very honored to be recognised as a Point of Light by the Prime Minister for my voluntary work with the 17-24-30 No to Hate Crime Campaign/charity. As with all recognition I dedicate my work to those who have been taken away from us through acts of hate, in particular I dedicate this award to the memory of Nik Moore, John Light and Andrea Dykes who lost their lives in The Admiral Duncan nail bomb attack, and to David Morley (aka Sinders) killed by a gang of teenagers in a so-called “happy slapping” attack as he walked home along the South Bank.
“I am passionate about making the world a better place by tackling all forms of hate in our communities and I hope that the National Hate Crime Awareness Week #NHCAW I have created helps inspire every politician, every local authority, every police service and every community affected by hate crime to work more closely together to tackle all forms of hate. There should be no place for hate in any of our communities – so let’s work together to make them safer places for all.
“I also want to encourage people to consider volunteering and think about what they can do to benefit and improve their local communities. It is very rewarding knowing that we are all capable of stepping in and doing something good. That we all have the ability to be a positive influence on the outcome of events around us.”
Women and Equalities Minister Nicky Morgan said:
“Congratulations to Mark on his Point of Light award. No one should have to live in fear or suffer in silence. His efforts to help stamp out prejudice and discrimination in the local community are a huge achievement, and one he should rightly be proud of.”
Mark’s local MP Vicky Foxcroft said:
“I was delighted to hear that my constituent Mark Healey had won a Point of Light Award. Mark has spent many years campaigning to end all forms of hate crime in London, most recently establishing National Hate Crime Awareness Week. It’s fantastic to see hard working volunteers like Mark receiving the recognition they deserve.”
Mark Healey receiving Points of Light award on the main stage Pride In London 27/06/2015
Those organising hate crime awareness events this year 2015 have been invited to submit details to Mark via info@17-24-30.org so that they can be included on the National Hate Crime Awareness Week Google map.
The maps have been set up to help signpost and promote hate crime awareness raising activities around the UK – see maps for 2015 and 2016 below. They will also enable us to evaluate which areas have got involved, how successful the week has been and which areas we need to reach next year.
So what type of events do we want people to organise to support our work?
- By sending us a letter of support. (info@17-24-30.org) Previously we have had letters of support from the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the other main political parties, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Stuart Milk (nephew of Harvey Milk), Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon OBE, of Clarendon in the Commonwealth Realm of Jamaica.
- By promoting the week. Use your social media networks to raise the profile of the national week and locally based events and messages of the week. Follow the week on Twitter @NationalHCAW @StopHateUK and by using the recommended hash tags #NHCAW, #NoPlaceForHate, #SafePlaceForAll, and #WeStandTogether. #HCAW may also be used.
- By funding and promoting local hate crime initiatives. You may not have a pot of cash to support your local services but by promoting them through your social media profiles and ensuring they are included when you are working with local communities you can help make sure that those affected by hate crime know where they can find local support.
- By holding your own hate crime awareness events or ideally collaborating with others to host and support a variety of events. The main objective is to explain what hate crime is, to encourage people to report it, to analyse what is happening once it is reported and put plans in place to eliminate it and ensure that everyone responds in a way that enhances the collective response to any hate crimes that occur in your areas.
For example last year in Lambeth the local disability groups set up a local Disability Hate Crime Working Group to organise an event to bring people together to have a conversation about Disability hate crime. The event was very successful and lead to the formation of theDisability Hate Crime Partnership Lambeth which meets regularly at We Are 336 in Brixton. The partnership is going from strength to strength, developing it’s own identity independent of Lambeth Council and inspiring local people to get involved. The partnership is lead by the Disability Advice Service Lambeth DASL and is currently applying for funds to set up a third party reporting centre.
The London borough of Hounslow used the week to organise a meeting of local faith groups and leaders. This lead to the creation of the Hounslow Interfaith Hate Crime Forum which is doing some great work to tackle faith hate crime. Hertfordshire County Council held a hate crime stall last year which gave them the confidence to put on their own Hate Crime Awareness Week last month.
“Ideally I would advise people to start by organising small events. A hate crime stall is relatively easy to pull together at short notice. I would recommend contacting local services now and asking them what resources they can provide. You can ask your local police to be present to talk to people about hate crime and see what the local reaction is. There are a lot of people who have experienced hate crime who would like to speak to someone about what they have suffered and you can use this opportunity to signpost them to local support.”
Back in Lambeth Mark has set up a Lambeth Hate crime Stall which he takes out on tours of Lambeth Libraries every four months. He is currently negotiating to have the stall on display in local places of worship and people organising other events in the borough can book him on line to bring the stall to their events. 17-24-30 and Fire nightclub funded 25,000 hate crime reporting cards which have been distributed in the borough which has since seen increased levels of hate crime reporting across all of the hate crime strands.
Lambeth Hate Crime Stall at Streatham Library
“Signposting advice and information is essential to the work we are doing which is why i set up the Lambeth Hate Crime Blog. The site is divided into four sections; (1) The home section where we share news about hate crime and local events that people are organising, (2) The about section which provides details of the key partners working together to tackle hate crime, (3) The hate crime strands section cover Disability , Gender Identity, Faith, Race, Sexual Orientation and other hate crimes – providing details how to report each type of hate crime and resources available, (4) The projects and resources section where we keep people updated on the work we are doing. It is all about organising things in a way so that information is open and accessible to everyone who needs it. We have even checked that the way the information is laid out on the WordPress site is accessible to those with visual impairments.”
Closer to the National Hate Crime Awareness Week we will be posting a hate crime toolkit on both this and the Stop Hate UK websites. We are currently negotiating funding for a National Hate Crime Week poster that we hope to distribute to those interested by early September.
“Whatever you do during National Hate Crime Awareness Week – do something – everything that helps raise the profile of hate crime helps those who have been affected by it to get closer to the advice and support they need to get over what they have experienced. By working together we can all help make sure there is #NoPlaceForHate and that everywhere becomes a #SafePlaceForAll but this will only succeed if#WeStandTogether.
Thank you
National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2015 Google Map
10th October to 17th October 2015
Those organising events are being invited to register their events;
Hate Crime Awareness Week – event registration form
Once 17-24-30 receive this information they will share it with Stop Hate UK so that it can be posted on both this 17-24-30 WordPress site and the Stop Hate UK website.
17-24-30 will then add an event marker (using the postcode given) on the google map and add information about the event to the location box (which appears when you click on the event markers).
As Google Maps is not accessible to people with visual impairments we will also add details of the event to an event listing which will be located on our Hate Crime Awareness Events Google Map page.
We are already starting to plan for 2016…
National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2016 Google Map
8th October to 15th October 2016
If you are planning ahead for #NHCAW 2016 please use the registration form to let us know about your events as well.
Links to pages below;
17-24-30 NationalHCAW 