Rotherham United will dedicate Saturday’s Sky Bet League One fixture with Oxford United to raising awareness surrounding hate crimes, whilst also promoting the work of our very own disabled association RUDSA and our Community Sports Trust partners.
The Millers will once again be reiterating their commitment to eradicating hate crime in the local area and beyond, in conjunction with sharing some of the fantastic work done by organisations in place to support the disabled here in Rotherham, including community partner Sense.
A hate crime is when someone commits a crime against an individual because of their disability, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, religion, or any other perceived difference.
It doesn’t always include physical violence. Someone using offensive language towards a person or harassing them because of who they are, or who they think they are, is also a crime. The same goes for someone posting abusive or offensive messages about an individual online.
This week marks the national Hate Crime Awareness Week and Rotherham United have pledged their support in a number of ways. In the build up to this game, Show Racism The Red Card were on hand at AESSEAL New York Stadium to deliver a workshop session to local youngsters to educate them on racism as a hate crime and ways in which it can be reported, while first team players Billy Jones and Matt Olosunde came down to support the event.
Saturday’s fixture will see Rotherham United welcome partners from the Hate Crime Unit of South Yorkshire Police, the club’s Disabled Supporters Association, who will promote their own work and free membership opportunities. Representatives from Sense and other organisations who support those with a disability in the town will also have a presence at this weekend’s game.
The staff, volunteers and group members from Sense will help to welcome the two teams out onto the playing surface ahead of kick off as they join us as flag bearers for the centre circle crest flag.
Head of Community Jamie Noble was delighted to see the fixture against the U’s dedicated to raising awareness surrounding hate crimes in the local area, telling Rotherham’s New Yorker.
“We are fully committed to supporting the work done by organisations in this town in helping them to stamp out hate crime and are particularly keen to ensure that we do not see any of that kind of behaviour here at AESSEAL New York Stadium on a matchday.
“We work closely with a number of community partners, many of whom are here this afternoon, whilst our Community Sports Trust offices act as a reporting centre for the town for hate crime offences.
“We are keen to ensure that the people of the town are aware of all the different forms of hate crime present in today’s society which range from racial offences to targeting those with a disability and we are hopeful that the work done at Saturday’s game will help us to achieve that.
“On behalf of the club I would like to say a big thank you to everyone that has joined us from South Yorkshire Police to Sense and RUDSA and all of their volunteers.”