Hate crime awareness champions

Being a victim of hate crime can have a disproportionate impact upon a person's mental health and well-being. 

Hate crime can have a negative impact on their:

• productivity at work or with their studies
• attendance at work or school
• social interactions
• day to day function

We are launching a Hate Crime Awareness Champions scheme along with Northumbria Police.

Through the scheme, organisations will be able to support their local authority and police to raise awareness of hate crime. 

The aim is to increase reported hate crime and support individuals who are targeted for who they are. 

The scheme is now endorsed by Northern Council for Further Education (NCFE). Certificates are available for those who have attended. Students from as young as 12 years are able to become a champion.

Champions can and have helped to make positives changes across organisations.

These include:

• the NE region's public transport organisations have signed a Hate Crime Charter 
• hate crime training compulsory for all new starters 
• a Hate Crime Society in one of our region's universities

Watch a short message (opens new window) given by the hate crime lead for the National Police Chief's Council, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton who is in support of the scheme. 

How it works

To become a Hate Crime Awareness Champion, the volunteer needs to attend a hate crime awareness session. 

The volunteers will then be asked to attend a 90-minute presentation explaining the role in more depth and what is expected of them. It also provides information on what to expect once the police receive a report of hate crime. 

Please note that this scheme is specific to the Northumbria Police area. We do hope it will become a national scheme in the future.

The role of the champion is to:

• be a visible, supporting presence within their organisation with a higher level of knowledge around hate crime 
• act as the main point of contact within your organisation for anyone wanting to discuss a hate crime or get advice
• provide advice and information about hate incidents and crimes
• signpost the individual to appropriate services, information and guidance
• receive updates of what is being done to tackle hate crime in the Northumbria Police force area.
• receive key messages from local authorities and Northumbria Police regarding hate crime.
• share key information about Hate Crime with your organisation's training department to ensure the information used in training is relevant and up-to-date.
• ensure that hate crime information is displayed and available within your organisation (posters and leaflets) 

Contact us if your organisation is based within the Northumbria Police area and would like to find out more about HCC scheme and be more involved in raising awareness of hate crime