Footballers past and present spoke to youngsters at two Kirklees schools at an event at Huddersfield’s John Smith’s Stadium.
The event, aimed at tackling the scourge of racism, was delivered by Show Racism the Red Card in partnership with the Huddersfield Town Foundation.
The two schools – Moldgreen Community Primary and Field Lane Junior, Infant and Nursery in Batley – are part of the Foundation’s Premier League Primary Stars programme which uses the power of the Premier League brand and football to engage and support pupils in schools.
Chris Kamara MBE, John Beresford MBE and former Town forward Fraizer Campbell, as well as Town academy players Tom Iorpenda, Cian Philpott, and Fope Deru, took part in a question and answer session about the effects of racism.
Kamara explained how important it was to deliver these sessions to young people and said: “No one is born a racist, so advising young people what is right and what is wrong surrounding racism gives them a fantastic chance to be themselves and say: ‘That’s not right’ or ‘I don’t want to be part of that and I am going to walk away.’
“It is about teaching people when they’re young because it is harder when they’re older to break down that barrier, but with kids, they soak up information well at a young age, so that’s the time to guide them.”
Campbell, who grew up in Lowerhouses, said: “It is really encouraging to see young minds asking questions and learning from videos that they have seen, workshops or listening to people’s past experiences.
“It’s great to see schools from my area learning about these topics. I grew up around here, and I knew that when the time was right, I wanted to give back to the community and the local area to help people’s or a child’s quality of life.
“It was brilliant to meet some young people from Lowerhouses and it was lovely to help brighten up their day.”
The Year 5 pupils also participated in workshops to help educate children on being able to recognise signs of racism and spark debates as well as challenging incidents in a safe and correct manner.
Fred Harms, a campaign worker based in the North East office at Show Racism the Red Card, said: “It was about giving the young people an introduction as to what racism and hate crime is and giving them some tools to take away to recognise these things in their communities.
“If we can take them out of an educational setting and bring them to the football club, where they can learn and then ask questions to some recognisable figures, then it lets them know that Huddersfield Town and the Foundation are anti-racist and when they come back here, they will know that it is a safe environment.”
