Free full day, 3 days training on Thursdays: 22 May, 29 May and 5 June 2025, from 9.30am-4.30pm.
Venue will be shared once you have fully registered.
Sometimes it feels as if our country is being torn apart. At a time when our communities face real challenges, unaffordable housing, job insecurity, and public services under strain, it feels as if we are always being encouraged to find a minority community to blame rather than to come together to work towards finding solutions.
These narratives of division are toxic, and in August last year we saw the most widespread racist rioting in the UK for over a century. While some of the perpetrators were hardened racists thugs and criminals, time and
again, court reports indicate how people who started out as bystanders got caught up in these events and committed crimes that even they found shocking.
At a time of increased insecurity within our communities, narratives of division and hatred are growing, and it is no longer a question of a tiny minority of far-right thugs. Unfortunately, some people believe that
desperate times call for desperate measures, and more and more people within our communities are beginning to believe that upholding human rights, equality, respect for minority opinions and the rule of law is part of the problem.
Across the country, the Ella Baker School of Organising is working with community, faith, trade union and voluntary sector organisations, to deliver training on how to defeat these narratives of division. We will be running a full programme in Birmingham over three days: 22 May, 29 May and 5 June. The training
will help you to:
- Recognise that even good people can sometimes hold problematic views,
- Identify the particular frictions between groups within your community and explore interventions to reduce these frictions,
- Help to find ways to engage meaningfully with people who have been influenced by toxic narratives,
- Identify ways to refocus your community on finding solutions rather than blaming scapegoats,
- How to strengthen local democracy through building strong inclusive community groups,
- How to respond if the far right announce a divisive march or protest in your area.
This particular training is funded by the Community Recovery Fund, and is free to participants. If you would like to attend you can apply below:
