School poster says it all on racism
Reporter: RICHARD HOOTON
Date published: 25 March 2010
Photo: Picture: ANTHONY MILLER
COLOURFUL message . . . NHS Oldham chief executive Gail Richards with the poster designed by pupils from St John’s Primary School, Failsworth.
IT’s a message Oldham has been pushing since the race riots of 2001 and it was summed up perfectly in a simple poster designed by school children . . . No to Racism.
The poster, designed by pupils at St John’s Primary School, Failsworth, took pride of place at a stand at Spindles Town Square shopping centre this week as officials got together to kick-start the annual campaign aiming to show racism the red card.
Pens, badges and T-shirts were being given out to spread the message: “There’s No Place for Racism in Oldham”, an initiative running since the race riots of 2001 to ease racial tensions, and shoppers were invited to discuss the issue.
New Oldham police chief Tim Forber, NHS Oldham chief executive Gail Richards and Oldham Councillor Keith Pendlebury joined Oldham Race Equality Partnership manager Tariq Rafique in launching the campaign.
Mr Rafique said: “We launched the campaign to say ‘Oldham says no to racism’.
“The week is all about awareness-raising and what racism can do to people, regardless of background.
“We’re in Spindles to get a feel on what people think about racism.
“People can come to us and tell us about incidents or issues in Oldham and how we can make Oldham a better place to live and work in. The response has been really good so far and we have spoken to about 150 people and had lots of positive comments.”
