Three Year 8 pupils from Loughborough High School have won awards in the Show Racism the Red Card School Competition. More than 20,000 young people took part, from hundreds of schools across England.
The Charity and Its Mission
The charity, Show Racism the Red Card, uses the high-profile status of football and professional players to convey important anti-racism messages to society. The Loughborough High School pupils were invited to Old Trafford football stadium to attend the awards ceremony.
Winners and Their Achievements
Isabella Hardy won first place in the T-Shirt Design category, and will now see her design featured in this year’s FIFA football game. Meanwhile, Emily Durham took third place in the Creative Writing category and Sia Shah-Thakerar came third in the Music category.
Double Win: Emily, who also won the Jo Cox Memorial Award, read out her poem about standing up to racism. Former professional footballers John Barnes and Viv Anderson – who made history by becoming the first black player to represent the England senior men's national team – presented the girls with their awards. Then Emily and Sia performed their pieces to the ceremony’s audience.
Isabella’s Inspiration
Isabella said: “When I designed my T-shirt, I thought about how I could include all skin colours and portray the message that no skin colours should face racism. I also thought about linking it back to football, so I added red cards with the title of the competition Show Racism the Red Card.”
Emily and Sia’s Performances
During the ceremony, Emily read out her poem about standing up to racism while Sia sang ‘The Colour of My Skin’ - a song she wrote specifically for the competition. Sia said: “I was surprised to win third place in the Music category as I knew there would be lots of other entries, but it made me feel really good about myself, especially as the lyrics have such an important message.”
Poignant Lyrics: Sia sang ‘The Colour of My Skin’. Emily was also presented with the Jo Cox Memorial Award, selected by Jo Cox’s sister. By personifying racism, the piece used the football theme to convey important messages: “Racism walked off, exposed under the stage light. The gate closed behind it. The field remained uneven, but finally honest.”
Teacher’s Pride
Miss Victoria Standring, from Loughborough High School, said: “I’m really proud of the girls. The whole year group submitted some really fantastic entries and to get three winners was brilliant. The messages conveyed through our pupils’ work were really impactful and we couldn’t be prouder of them for sharing these through the competition.”
