Anti-prejudice education charity the Anne Frank Trust UK has launched a social media campaign #ShoutDownHate aimed at raising awareness of hate crime experienced by young people. Five young people a day are the victims of hate crime – the campaign will encourage youngsters aged 13 – 16 to join a movement that highlights the issue and drives a positive narrative. The campaign will, additionally, help promote the launch – also on Thursday – of a new online platform: both initiatives have been made possible by the Home Office’s Building a Stronger Britain Together (BSBT) programme.
Developed through in-kind support from M&C Saatchi, the new online platform – Voices for Change – aims to bring together a UK-wide network of current and former Anne Frank Ambassadors in a secure online environment enabling them to access resources, share ideas for challenging prejudice, and showcase their work to a wider audience.
The Anne Frank Trust works with around 40,000 young people in schools and other settings each year, educating them about the dangers of prejudice and discrimination in all its forms, and equipping them with the skills to recognise, challenge and resist such behaviour and attitudes. Anne Frank’s life and diary are at the heart of the Trust’s education programmes and the 100s of Ambassadors it creates in her name each year are torch-bearers for Anne’s message of social justice and equality for all.
The concept of developing a bespoke online platform that would provide a hub for Anne Frank Ambassadors to connect, share and discover was originally conceived by the Trust’s Director of Policy and Strategy, Lucy Glennon. She said: “The teenagers coming through our Ambassador programme are some of the most open-minded, inspiring and determined young people I, and the team, have ever come across. It really is a privilege to watch them flourish as they progress with the Trust. What they take away with them is an appetite to continue that good work and the confidence to amplify Anne’s humanitarian message – the ability therefore to be Voices for Change.
“In a world where the language of hate is – particularly online – in danger of becoming commonplace, we trust our new platform will be a destination where these young Ambassadors can safely share and discuss their own positive social endeavours, and further promote the values of understanding and kindness that we all must observe if we are to be a society truly safe from prejudice and discrimination.”
