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MCDIARMID PARK HOSTS SRtRC STADIUM EVENT

Tuesday October 2nd saw the annual Show Racism the Red Card ‘stadium event’ return to Perth.

In partnership with Show Racism the Red Card Scotland and St Johnstone Football Club, Saints in the Community were delighted to bring the stadium event back to McDiarmid Park recently! The event brought together two local Primary Schools, Goodlyburn and Letham, for a day of learning, reflection, and action against racism.

The event kicked off with pupils from both schools being split into two groups, participating in three interactive workshops designed to deepen their understanding of racism and support them in recognising racism in different forms both in school and in the wider world. The workshops—"Children Seeking Asylum," "Labelling," and "Allyship" helped encourage pupils to explore issues including discrimination, and the importance of becoming an anti-racist ally to help create more inclusive communities throughout school and daily life.

Following the workshops, an anti-racism themed Q&A session was held, featuring a panel of VIP guests. The panel included (from left to right) St Johnstone Women’s, Niamh Irvine, Councillor John Rebbeck, St Johnstone Men’s, Ross Sinclair & Fran Franczak, Perth & Kinross Council’s Executive Director of Education and Children’s Services, Sheena Devlin, Councillor Peter Barrett, and Sean & Gary from Police Scotland.

The important discussion gave students the chance to showcase their curiosity, passion for anti-racism, and knowledge they had obtained through the event by asking a variety of questions, while also hearing insights from role models on how we can all work together to combat racism.

Sean Kellie from Tayside Police emphasised the importance of education in tackling racism:
“Education is absolutely vital in tackling racism. I think sometimes through a fear, and ignorance or lack of understanding of other cultures, people can make assumptions, and I think by being open and transparent and sharing experiences, you can learn so much about other cultures and other religions and have a greater understanding, and I think education is the key to that.”

Sheena Devlin echoed the importance of Education alongside the value of personal growth:
“For me, going to school is important. The stuff you learn about alongside the subject knowledge, but it’s equally important to learn about yourself and what kind of person you want to be and what contribution you are going to make to a much more positive society.”

Saints in the Community continue to use the widespread appeal of sport to engage school pupils in our Show Racism the Red Card project; an anti-racist workshop delivered by our football coaches to children aged 10-12 years old across the county. Visiting over 1,000 pupils each and every year, we recently celebrated our 16th year of working in partnership with Perth & Kinross Council to deliver these education workshops to primary school pupils.