Today (August 6) marks seven days of disorder since the Southport stabbings, which saw three young girls killed as well as eight children and two adults injured at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. A far-right protest followed the day after the tragedy as misinformation was circulated online about the attacker’s identity.
Since then, hundreds of arrests have been made as racist and Islamophobic-fuelled violence has spread to other parts of the country. Unrest has broken out in towns and cities including Sunderland, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Hull, Stoke-on-Trent, Liverpool, Belfast, Rotherham and Tamworth. Mosques and hotels housing refugees and asylum seekers have been targeted, police officers have been attacked, shops have been looted and community buildings, including a library and Citizens Advice Bureau, have been torched.
As the events continue to unfold, we urge you to stay safe, especially if you feel you’re someone who feels targeted by these attacks. Below, we’re compiling a list of causes you can donate to (if you can) to resist the violence and help rebuild communities across the UK. We’d also suggest emailing your local MP, which you can find here, and urge them to fight against misinformation and far-right violence.
Donate to local communities
Liverpool: A GoFundMe has been set up to help repair the Spellow Lane Library Hub and food bank, which was torched over the weekend.
Belfast: A GoFundMe has been set up for cafés which were targeted.
Support charities combatting racism
Stand Up to Racism UK, a group which sets out to fight racism and promote equality, has set up a ‘Stop the Far Right: Emergency Unity Fund’. The fun will be be used to ‘organise more protests, hold more events, and produce more materials to fight racism and foster unity’.
Hope Not Hate UK has a pledge to ‘transform the current climate of pessimism into a movement of hope and community action’ which you can sign to stay informed on campaign updates. Find out more about supporting them here.
The Exit Hate trust provides ‘mentoring support to individuals who are involved in extremism and want to walk away and we also families who have a loved one involved’.
Stop Hate UK ‘operates the UK’s only free dedicated 24-hour anti-Hate Crime reporting service for all monitored strands of a person’s identity or perceived identity’.
Support charities supporting asylum seekers and refugees
Migrant Voice is a migrant-led organisation developing the skills and confidence of migrants to speak up and advocate for themselves.
British Red Cross is the UK’s largest independent provider for services for refugees and asylum seekers.
Refugee Action helps refugees and people seeking asylum rebuild their lives in the UK.
Care4Calais delivers essential aid to refugees in the UK, France and Belgium.
Women for Refugee Women supports women who have fled persecution in their home countries.
Refugee Council helps over 13,000 men, women and children seeking asylum in the UK each year.
Only attend anti-racism marches if it is safe to do so
Stand Up to Racism is organising a national day of protest on August 10 to say that refugees are welcome here, but don’t feel pressured to go: be sure to prioritise your own and other people’s safety. If you feel like you could be a target of attacks or feel unsafe, do not attend.
Be careful about what information you share
Think carefully about what sort of information you distribute on social media: is it from a verified, trusted source? Could it be a fabrication? Stay away from sharing anything which might identify accommodation where asylum seekers may be staying or could intensify divisions.
Meet the Londoner who set up a community centre for refugees.
The community kitchen that feeds Calais’s refugees and Camden’s homeless.
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