Merseyside Police Authority Helps Young People Tackle Hate Crime
Merseyside Police Authority has awarded £5000 to
Homotopia's, 'Project Triangle' to assist them in their
work challenging and tackling Hate Crime. Those involved in the
project will be visiting the Authority tomorrow (Thursday
27th January) to talk to members about how the money is
being spent.
Project Triangle works with young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender people to develop projects and resources that promote
equality and diversity, improve social cohesion and challenge Hate
Crime. It enables young people to develop their skills, experience
and confidence through participation in Hate Crime and
anti-bullying training, film production and project development,
including delivering the first ever Homotopia youth festival.
In 2009, MPA funded a trip for 12 young people from Project
Triangle to visit Auschwitz and Warsaw to raise awareness of Hate
Crime and increase people's confidence in reporting it.
Following the trip, Project Triangle produced a Hate Crime
Education Resource. The pack has received unanimous praise and has
been endorsed by Sir Ian McKellen, the NUT and the Chief Constable
of Merseyside Police.
Merseyside Police Authority has now presented Homotopia with a
further £5000 to purchase film production and editing
equipment. Using the equipment the group produced a new film
"Sex, Drags and Rock N Roll", which premiered at the
Unity Theatre as part of the Homotopia festival. The film has
already been selected for the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
and will feature in a Merseyside wide Youth Hate Crime conference
being organised in February.
Bev Ayre, who manages the project, says,
"This has vastly increased our ability to work with young people and spread an anti-hate message locally, across the country and internationally. We are currently developing an, 'Introduction to Hate Crime' DVD for young people. We are so grateful to Merseyside Police Authority for their continued support of our work tackling Hate Crime. Their support means that over 20,000 young people across Merseyside have accessed our diversity and equality resources and we have been able to to improve the skills and confidence of the many young people we work with."
For more information on how you can apply for a grant through the Police Authority's Police Property Acts Fund, go to http://www.merseysidepoliceauthority.gov.uk/
Ends
For more information on this press release, contact:
Lucy Johnson Tel: 0151 285 5509
