Newcastle United leading the way by creating safe community space to report hate crimes

Newcastle United Foundation is leading the way in ensuring the community is safe.

The community hub NUCASTLE has been certified as a Safe Reporting Centre by Northumbria Police, providing a neutral location to report hate crime or hate incidents.

After receiving specialist training from Northumbria Police’s Central Community Engagement Team, 13 colleagues at the Foundation are now equipped to record hate crime incidents reported by members of the public.

Hate crime is any criminal offence targeting a person or group of people because of prejudice or hostility, such as race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability.

Sophie Pattison, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator at Newcastle United Foundation, said: “NUCASTLE is an established as a safe and welcoming space for the community so becoming a Safe Reporting Centre with Northumbria Police is a natural step for us to take.

“Our facilities team at NUCASTLE have built great relationships with those living and working in the area and are always ready to listen and support those who need it.

“It is also important to remember that hate crime isn’t always physical – it can be a number of incidents including name-calling, threats or harassment, bullying, damage to your property or being spat at. Hate crime legislation also applies online, and there have been successful prosecutions for hate crime postings on social media.

“We would encourage anyone who is a victim of, who witnesses a hate crime, or who has information that needs to be shared to report this to our team with the confidence that you will be listened to and supported.”

Between March 2022 and March 2023, a total of 145,214 hate crimes were recorded by the police in England and Wales with racially motivated hate crimes accounting for more than two-thirds of such offences.

Superintendent Scott Cowie, Northumbria Police’s lead for hate crime, said: “It is fantastic that NUCASTLE is now a Safe Reporting Space, providing a further location for victims to report incidents of this nature and raising awareness of what is an important issue.

“We hope that members of the public will feel confident in using the venue to report these crimes so that we can provide any support which may be needed and take action to pursue those responsible.

“Hate crime and discrimination of any kind has absolutely no place within our communities.

“If you are abused because of your race, religion, sexual orientation, gender-identity or disability, please be aware that is a criminal offence.

“If you see somebody committing a hate crime, or know of any instances of abuse, reporting it can help us take swift action and potentially prevent similar incidents from happening to someone else.”

NUCASTLE, just five minutes’ walk from St. James’ Park, is open seven days a week as a welcoming venue for all communities.

During Hate Crime Awareness Week (October 14 – October 21), NUCASTLE will be the host venue for a football tournament uniting teams representing those often targeted by hate crime.