Remembering Srebrenica’s East Midlands Board have been nominated for ‘Hate Crime Champion’ at the annual Bedfordshire Police Cohesion Awards.
The awards celebrate those who go above and beyond to help their local communities and we were delight that our East Midlands regional board, led by Dr Helen Connolly was nominated. Through the tireless work and commitment of the board members, five schools in Bedfordshire have been privileged to hear directly from two survivors of the genocide, public events are held throughout the year to educate people about Srebrenica and the board have created over 25 Community Champions Against Hate from the region through the ‘Lessons from Srebrenica’ Programme. They also held a series of events in July 2017 to mark Srebrenica Memorial Day and bring communities across Bedfordshire together.
Dr Helen Connolly, who Chairs the regional board said:
“It was an honour for our board to be nominated for this award and for the work of Remembering Srebrenica to be recognised in this way. By connecting with the stories from Bosnia, we are able to open up dialogue between so many different communities. At one event for Srebrenica we organised, there were five languages being spoken, and people of all ages and backgrounds attended but we able to connect through the stories from Srebrenica. Through Remembering Srebrenica, we were able create a space of learning, insight, and to really listen to the issues that affect us all”.
She went on to say:
“I would like to thank all of my fellow board members who work so hard to bring communities together through learning about the past. It has been a wonderful effort to work together to reach out to people, build partnerships, educate young people and create hope for the future”
We would like to pay tribute to the work of the East Midlands Board, its Chair and Members who work so hard to connect communities and create a society free from hate.
