Youngsters took a stand against racism at UCFB Wembley recently when they presented their Manifesto for Change to highlight the key changes they’d like to see within the sports industry and wider society.

In partnership with The Inspirational Learning Group and Kick It Out, UCFB Wembley hosted the national finals of the Take A Stand Challenge, which saw the professional minds of the future showcase their ideas on how to combat racism and discrimination within football and society, with Worcestershire’s Holy Trinity Free School coming out on top with their Grassroots Against Racism campaign.

At the start of the process participants were able to reflect on the personal stories of several former professional players, describing racism, prejudice and discrimination within the game before creating their manifesto.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TAKE A STAND CHALLENGE NATIONAL FINAL AT UCFB WEMBLEY 

The aim of the manifesto was to highlight the key changes they would like to see within sport and wider society, before then going on to develop their own campaign or educational programme that would aim to address one of the key issues affecting black players and coaches.

Making their pitch, the successful Holy Trinity Free School said: “We aim to eliminate racism at a grassroots level and to teach younger athletes and mainly footballers to show respect for others no matter their ethnicity, race or religious beliefs. We aim to get former footballers that have been victims of racism to volunteer to help us identify racism in the game of football and teach younger players respect.

“At a grassroots level we are going to get welfare officers to identify racism at football games and give out appropriate penalties, such as lifetime bans for fans and players or fines for the players. We plan on starting at a grassroots level then slowly move our way up the leagues.”

They added: “Racism is the biggest issue in football and it has to stop because it is immoral, despicable and disgusting. Ian wright is our ambassador and will be working with us to help kick racism out.”

Michael Dyer, co-founder at The Inspirational Learning Group, commented: "Take A Stand was an extremely important challenge, we're thrilled with the support received from UCFB and Kick It Out to deliver this nationally. Young people will be the drivers behind positive change across a diverse range of issues, but particularly in taking a stance against racism and prejudice. The achievements of all involved have been brilliant to see!"

Congratulations to the top four schools/colleges:

  • Holy Trinity Free School (Worcestershire)
  • The Kings CE(A) School Kidsgrove (Staffordshire) 
  • Bridgwater & Taunton College (Somerset) 
  • Christ Church Academy (Staffordshire)