[F]ollowing the success of previous years, Carlisle College will again be holding their Equality & Diversity Week from Monday 22nd January.
Carlisle College, who are a Stonewall School Champion, (a programme to tackle homophobia, biphobia and transphobia and support LGBT+ young people in the community,) will hold the week-long event which will include a wide range of events which aim to celebrate and promote all aspects of equality and diversity as well as inform and educate throughout.
A key part of the week will be the annual Equality & Diversity competition. Students are encouraged to use their vocational skills to produce a creative piece to promote an issue around equality and diversity. Past entrants have chosen to use a variety of different ways to communicate their chosen message including; poems, videos, posters, sculptures and fashion. On the morning of Tuesday 23rd January, judging of the entries will commence with the winners revealed at 11.30am. An exhibition of all the entries will be open to the public throughout the week at Carlisle College.
Emma James of Cumbria Constabulary will be delivering a range of Hate Crime tutorials raising the importance of why Carlisle College is a hate incident reporting centre.
Using interactive resources from The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, students will also be participating in sessions to challenge prejudice and intolerance towards people, focussing on educating and raising awareness of the need to create respect and understanding of subcultures in our community.
Carlisle College are also thrilled to be hosting two Holocaust Memorial Exhibitions on behalf of AWAZ Cumbria and in conjunction with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Both will be running until Friday 2nd February One exhibition will be interactive and encourage students to think of what steps they can take to promote tolerance and challenge discrimination in all its forms. The smaller exhibition will consist of a powerful and poignant display, picturing and naming some of the many young victims of the Holocaust.
Lee McDermott, from Student Services at Carlisle College, said “We host an annual Equality and Diversity week, scheduling a range of activities across all departments of the College to give specific focus to this area and raise awareness amongst our students. The Holocaust Memorial Exhibition from AWAZ, which we are delighted to be hosting as part of our activities, helps to further spread the message around remembrance.”