Stronger communities

In partnership with the British East and South East Asian Network (besea.n) we have created an active bystander training. These expert-led sessions see participants guided through a series of discussions to explore how they can play a role in tackling identity-based prejudice and violence in their community, school, or place of work. 

Content is tailored to the needs of each group. The training has a minimum time of 2 hours but can also be delivered over a half or full day. Content includes: 

• What it means to be an active bystander or ally: through group discussion the participants explore what being an active bystander means to them
• Standing up for victims: working through a series of scenarios, participants consider and learn what they can do when they encounter prejudice, harassment or violence such as a racist attack in a supermarket or an inappropriate comment from a colleague
• What you can do if you are the victim: participants consider some options they may have if they are the victim of prejudice or violence, and find out where there are support services and resources

We have funding to deliver up to two sessions free of charge for your organisation or worklace so get in touch to book! 

contact: education@protectionapproaches.org 

In September 2020 Protection Approaches launched a ground-breaking Community Builder Training Programme, a London-wide initiative supported by the Mayor of London. In just 5 months this programme has equipped more than 300 Londoners passionate about creating positive change in their communities with the tools, principles, and methodologies they need to tackle injustice, bridge divides and build respectful, resilient communities. The programme has now been funded by the National Lottery to be rolled out across England!

The workshops are accompanied with bespoke materials containing best practice in community building, community organising and peacebuilding from around the world empowering people who are already deeply involved in their local areas and therefore best placed to deliver community building work with the understanding of how to do that work. After the workshops, participants are tasked with putting their training into action. They initiate new projects, build on existing networks, and integrate what they’ve learnt into their forums, clubs, WhatsApp groups, and other means of community organising or neighbourhood support.  

Protection Approaches leads the consortium delivering 'On Your Side' the UK-wide support and reporting service for East and Southeast Asian communities who experience racism and/or any forms of hate. 

The service includes a 24/7 freephone helpline available in East and Southeast Asian languages; a website with reporting forms and resources; and ongoing community-based support delivered by trained casework advocates. On Your side has community members at the centre. That means anyone can feel safe using the service. Unless somebody is in danger, we will never pass on anything we have been told to anybody else without permission.

Funded by £1million from the UK Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities, On Your Side is delivered by a consortium of 9 organisations including East and Southeast Asian led community groups alongside national hate crime reporting and hate crime prevention organisations. 

We have been commissioned by London Mayors Office for  Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to deliver a hate crime community outreach  and resilience project. The project will see Protection Approaches’ expert team work with staff and/or volunteers at eight community-based  organisations who have emerging hate crime needs and who may not have  historically been the focus of anti-hate crime work. The project has  been developed in response to the concerns expressed by some  community-based organisations that they have a lack of capacity,  knowledge and/or networks to appropriately support community members who  are targeted. Over the course of a year our team will support each of  the organisations individually to: 

• Increased awareness and understanding of hate crime among community members who they work with
• Feel confident to provide an initial, basic level of victim support  to members of their community who report being targeted by hate crime
• Build new relationships with stakeholders in police, local and  regional authorities, civil society and elsewhere focussed on hate crime  victim support and / or prevention
• Build sustainability of hate crime victim support and / or hate  crime prevention work through developing grant proposals and other  fundraising strategies

Each of the eight community-based organisations will receive funding to  cover staff time and other costs associated with participation in the  project.