Rotherham United Community Sports Trust is supporting the 30th Anniversary of Black History Month by promoting diversity and social cohesion through the work that we do, as mentioned below:
A fantastic example is ‘The Rotherham Project’. This is a co-produced participatory arts research project funded by Arts and Humanities Council and supported by the University if Sheffield. RUCST cohesion team worked with photographer Nathan Gibson and a group of young men from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds aged 12 to 16.
The project aimed to use photography as a means of exploring identity and to investigate theses related to the ethics of representation, informed by the participants’ first-hand experience of living in Rotherham. The project allowed a space for those taking part to reflect on their perceived place with Rotherham and highlighted that while there are elements of the town that they found problematic, there was also, in friendship and diversity, much to celebrate.
One young man took a beautiful photograph of two boys with their arms around each other on a bus to school.
This photo encapsulates the best of Rotherham and when there is integration there is a mutual respect and tolerance. Both boys accessed our evening provision. Every day we at RUCST work hard to bring people together and build a stronger Rotherham.
Throughout this month we will be delivering the following activities to celebrate this Black History Month 2017:
- United4Communities cohesion football: The affiliated group aims to unite a diverse range of young people and adults through an under 16’s and adults football team. This group acts as a beacon in the local leagues to exemplify the fact that all races, colours and religious creeds can work together to achieve a shared goal.
- Heels to Hijabs: The event which aimed to bring women and girls from a variety of cultures and communities together took place on Sunday 1 October at Clifton Park to mark the start of black history month. We saw around 60 women and girls take part in netball, rounder’s and cricket competitions with the winning teams taking away medals for their performance. Miriam Shah worked with young people on arts and crafts to produce bags and t shirts showing the #heelstohijabs as well as producing a canvas of the things that they enjoy about sport. REMA and Islam Rotherham partnered with the event to help raise awareness that sport can be accessed by anyone no matter what background you come from, what you wear or what you look like
- Hate Crime Awareness Talk: We have invited hate crime coordinator PC Chris Nicholson to deliver hate crime awareness training to all of our BTEC Sport Students, to educate on how to identify and report hate crime.
- Women’s Voice in Sport Conference: The women’s voice in sport conference is an opportunity for Women from a BME background to come and tell us their views on sport and physical activity. The event which is taking place at New York Stadium will be opened by guest speaker Dana Abdulkarim. Following this inspirational speech the women will take part in workshops discussing their barriers to participating in sport and consultation on what would make accessing sport easier for them. The event will close with lunch and networking.
- Eastwood Community Kitchen Event: We are inviting the young people that we work with to attend a community Kitchen Event, in Partnership with Eastwood Youth & Community Centre. This social event will aim to integrate a number of young people from different backgrounds and cultures.
- Chislett Youth Centre Community Kitchen Event: We are inviting the young people that we work with to attend a community Kitchen Event, in Partnership with Chislett Youth Centre. This social event will aim to integrate a number of young people from different backgrounds and cultures.
- Premier League Kicks Football Tournament: We will host a Premier League Kicks Tournament for young people aged 11-13 years old, from different areas of Rotherham. This event will incorporate workshops in hate crime awareness and reporting.